Facilitating consumer preferences and product shelf life data in the design of e-grocery deliveries

To assist setting up e-grocery operations, this work presents a decision support system integrating product shelf life data and consumer preferences. Based on a conjoint analysis of 432 urban consumers, an agent-based simulation is developed to model preferences, demand patterns and logistics processes. The focus is set on fresh fruits and vegetables and the impact of food quality on customer satisfaction and logistics performance. Computational experiments based on the urban distribution of strawberries investigate the impact of varying service offers throughout multiple weeks of operations. Results highlight potentials of integrating preference and shelf life data as well as the importance of closely considering interactions between service offers and logistics performance within e-grocery operations.