Distribution Management Practices and Performance of Outbound Logistics of Online Stores in Kenya

Abstract

The world has over the previous years become competitive and a big percentage of entities have fashioned ways of coping with the changes that comes with it. With snowballing competition, industrialization, growth and realization of innovative and the continuous expanding network, Distribution Management keeps growing and becoming a tactical resource for entities that need to acquire so as to enhance the performance of their outbound logistics. The study sought to investigate the influence of Distribution Management Practices on Performance of Outbound Logistics by online stores in Kenya The objectives were to find out the adoption extents of Distribution Management Practices by online stores, to ascertain the relationship between DMP and Performance of Outbound Logistics by online stores and to examine the milestones experienced in implementing Distribution Management Practices by online stores in Kenya. Descriptive design was the research design adopted and the population was made up of all the 47 licensed online stores in Kenya. Primary data was acquired via questionnaires (administered via electronic mails). Descriptive statistics was used to analyse objective one which has to determine the adoption level of Distribution Management Practices and objective three which sought to examine the challenges of implementing Distribution management practices. Regression analysis was used to analyse objective two which sought to analyze the correlation between Distribution management practices and outbound logistics performance of online stores. On the 1st objective which was to find out the extent of adoption of Distribution management practices by online stores in Kenya, it was affirmed that Collaboration, Omni Channel Distribution and Fleet Management were adopted to a large extent. Information Sharing, Backhaul Management and labeling and packaging on the other hand were adopted to a moderate extent by the online stores in Kenya. Objective two determined that Collaboration, Fleet Management, Information Sharing, Backhaul Management and labeling and packaging all had a positive relationship with performance of outbound logistics of online stores in Kenya. Omni Channel Distribution on the other hand had no relationship with performance of outbound logistics in Kenya. Specifically, Distribution management practices were established to influence Cost, Returnability, Order Visibility and Timeliness of online stores in Kenya. High investment related costs at the initial stages, Lack of coordination between clients and the firm, poor logistics infrastructure, Unreliability in delivery schedules and last mile deliveries were among the challenges faced in implementation of Distribution management practices. It is recommended that Information Sharing, Backhaul Management and labeling and packaging be largely adopted as they were found to have been adopted moderately by the online stores in Kenya. The research was limited since it solely relied on primary data of the online stores in Kenya. Future studies should focus on Distribution management practices and performance of either public entities, manufacturing firms or multinational corporations