INSIDE DELIVERY PLATFORMS: THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND AFTER

Authors

  • Gilles Paché

Keywords:

COVID-19 pandemic, Delivery platform, Europe, Gig economy, Logistics, Social (physical) distancing

Abstract

The coronavirus crisis of 2020 has highlighted the fragility of many traditional economic sectors, but also of activities belonging to the field of the collaborative economy. This is particularly true for delivery platforms, which are a component of the “gig economy.” At the worst moment of the COVID-19 pandemic, gig workers acting as independent microentrepreneurs for the platforms continued to deliver meals and parcels, despite significant health risks. Once the crisis was over, the European political authorities took drastic social (physical) distancing measures to avoid a second wave of contamination. These measures threaten the model of delivery platforms because gig workers are naturally in direct contact with consumers at home or at work. The new world resulting from the coronavirus crisis could lead to the privileged use of supply chain professionals, and therefore deeply transform the fundamentals of the delivery platform model.

Author Biography

Gilles Paché

He is Professor of Retailing and Supply Chain Management at Aix-Marseille University, Aix-en-Provence,
France. Member of the Research Center on Transport and Logistics (CRET-LOG) and Director of the University
Press of Aix-Marseille, his major interests are network organization, supply chain management and retail
operations management. On these topics, Professor Paché has more than 450 publications in the forms of journal
papers, books, edited books, edited proceedings, edited special issues, book chapters, conference papers and
reports.

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Published

2020-12-04

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 2 (2020): Journal of Supply Chain Management: Research & Practice

Section

Articles