Designing Resilient Last-Mile Logistics for Urban Quick Commerce through Microhubs
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15611/pn.2026.2.10Keywords:
urban microhub, quick commerce, last-mile delivery, urban logistics, resilienceAbstract
Aim: The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the use of urban microhubs in last-mile delivery affects the resilience of quick-commerce online grocery deliveries within urban logistics.
Methodology: The study adopts a qualitative research approach. To explore the cause-and-effect relationships in urban quick-commerce, the authors conducted a single-case study of a pilot microhub implementation by a grocery retailer operating both physical and online stores. Within the pilot project, selected brick-and-mortar stores served as microhubs that consolidated online orders for last-mile delivery to consumers. The analysis draws on the authors’ participative observation, operational data, project documentation, and interviews with key project participants.
Results: The findings suggest that operational stability in urban quick-commerce deliveries within last-mile logistics can be achieved primarily by simplifying the system structure. The microhub model reduces spatial, temporal, and informational variability by limiting delivery radius, standardizing delivery processes, and decreasing uncertainty through monitoring technologies. As a result, the system exhibits lower decision-making complexity and greater delivery predictability under volatile demand and operational uncertainty.
Implications and recommendations: The study indicates that resilience in last-mile logistics can be designed as an inherent structural property of the system (resilience-by-design), achieved through complexity reduction rather than resource redundancy and/or increased system flexibility. The findings highlight the need to integrate microhub research with structural approaches to resilience. From a managerial perspective, the results suggest the potential of designing simplified operational systems as an alternative to models that rely heavily on algorithmic optimization.
Originality/value: This paper is among the first to link urban microhubs with resilience theory in urban logistics and to introduce the concept of structural resilience in last-mile delivery systems. It demonstrates that microhubs may serve not only to improve efficiency but also to reduce operational complexity and enhance system resilience.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Daniel Konrad Węgrzynek, Marzenna Cichosz
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Accepted 2026-06-05
Published 2026-07-29
