Last-Mile Delivery Optimization in Indian E commerce Logistics : A Case Study Analysis of Delhivery’s Urban Distribution Network

Abstract

The last-mile delivery is the most expensive and operationally intensive phase of e-commerce supply chains, especially in emerging economies where infrastructure heterogeneity is more of a structural than a special phenomenon. In this thesis, the author explores how delivery operations at individual, urban centres within India can be optimized using just a single case study of the Delhivery Limited Noida Sector 63 centre in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

Surveys A primary dataset of 25,000 shipment records and 3,235 customer feedback logs obtained in Q3 2025 are used inductively to identify the maximum number of patterns in the analysis with the goal of validating the hypothesis. It is analyzed based on Lean Management, Theory of Constraints, SERVQUAL, Principal-Agency Theory and Institutional Voids framework. There are three categories of friction, which are the structural and behavioral determinants of the 23% aggregate first-attempt failure rate: structural friction due to address ambiguity in unplanned urban villages, transactional friction due to Cash-on-Delivery dominance and behavioral friction due to systematic fake attempt recording due to incentive misalignment. The comparative analysis supports the fact that the gap in the efficiency between target areas and unplanned areas of delivery is statistically significant, which proves that the logistics performance in the Indian urban environment is determined geographically.

The thesis is that there will be an Interaction Optimization Framework that will reorient the strategic goal of the minimization of distance traveled to the maximization likelihood of a successful handover. Four specific interventions have been suggested, which are WhatsApp GPS pre-validation, dynamic time-slotting, success-based incentive restructuring, and automated pre-call synchronization. In contribution to theory, a quantification of institutional voids as a cost of operation has been made, Theory of Constraints has been extended to external service constraints and Lean principles have been scaled to unstructured information environments.

The results indicate that the human-centric, hyper-localized, and communication-first approach to latemile optimization needs to be applied in the new markets instead of single-algorithmic route optimization.