本研究首先介绍了电子商务的发展历程，并且总结出电子商务，尤其是B2C电子商务对传统消费方式和货物分销链的影响。在此基础上，我们进一步分析了在线零售商和在线消费者对快递公司的新要求。其次，我们对国际快递市场进行了分析，系统研究总结了快递公司的商业模式和快递市场的特点。通过对UPS国际快递、联邦快递、DHL国际快递和TNT国际快递四家最大的快递集成商的总结，回顾了国际快递行业的发展历程；并且对国际快递市场的规模和市场份额格局进行了分析。在此基础上，进一步分析和预测了国际B2C电子商务包裹快递市场的发展动力和未来发展前景，为国际集成商解决跨国快递服务中出现的问题提供了实践现实和决策基础。最后，我们根据上述的系统分析和研究结果，并进一步结合亚太主要快递市场的专家访谈，提出了解决国际快递相关问题的战略性框架。具体而言：（1）管理接收者不在家情景。（2）与网上零售商的合作策略可以有效保证网上零售商获得接收者足够的信息。（3）外包几乎是所有的集成商目前都在采用的方法。（4）备选的交付方式也会对特定情境下的包裹快递提供帮助。（5）自动化的包裹站点是集成商又一个新兴的战略措施。（6）与零售商（如便利店）的合作也是集成商的一个常用战略。为进一步评价以上六种措施，我们对服务于一家负责管理亚太地区工作的国际集成商区域办公室的焦点小组进行了访谈，请求他们对上述措施进行评价，并进行优先次序划分。在此基础上，我们构建了提升快递公司交付服务的指导性框架。该框架采用的方法考虑了适应不同国家地方差异的关键因素。我们是通过选择新加坡作为模型的试点国家，并要求新加坡的快递公司运营管理团队依据六个标准给出不同的权重来实现的，评价过程中系统考虑新加坡的情景因素。最后一个步骤允许在现实中对模型进行检验，并证明了我们所开发框架的有效性。本研究系统分析了跨国B2C电子商务中的最后一英里交付问题，这一问题的良好解决要求解决方案综合考虑B2C电子商务价值链的早期阶段。即集成商需要利用相关技术来对交付过程进行事先管理，并且同时利用备选方案和常规方法来解决最后一英里的交付问题。

Online shopping became a global phenomenon since its inception in 1995. Global e-Commerce volume is expected to reach 1 Trillion USD by 2013. B2C (Business to Consumer) commerce revolutionized the retailing concept globally, making the entire globe a single market with millions of buyers and sellers. Shoppers now can access the retailers at any time from almost anywhere with the advent in mobile internet technologies. Exponential growth in cross border parcel delivery business fueled by e-Commerce introduces important business prospects for global integrators. The integrators with their exclusive networks that covers almost entire world are well positioned to offer superior value proposition to online retailers, requiring reliable and cost effective delivery partners. Nevertheless the nature of B2C deliveries imposes serious challenges on integrators especially around the final mile delivery process. The majority of the B2C shipments are consigned to residential areas with very high delivery failures due to absence of the receiver during the regular delivery windows of the integrators which is generally around 09:00 to 18:00. Multiple delivery attempts following the communications with customer services of integrators are causing extra cost compared to the B2B (Business to Business) deliveries that are still forming the majority of the shipment profile. The failed delivery attempts are creating customers dissatisfaction as well. Given that almost 50% of the total costs in transportation chain are incurred in the final mile delivery process, addressing the specific final mile delivery issues is a strategic task for integrators with ever increasing B2C shipments in their product portfolio. The objective of the thesis is to offer a strategic framework for integrators to address the final mile delivery issues of cross border parcel deliveries. The framework developed introduces the alternative initiatives to the integrators and allows the integrators to prioritize the initiatives within local markets. Through expert interviews based in 9 major Asia Pacific countries/regions (China, Australia, Japan, India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan) 6 different initiatives, namely – Manage not Home Scenario, Collaboration with Online Retailers, Outsourcing, Alternative Delivery Methods, Automated Parcel Stations and Partnership with Retailers that complement each other have been identified. Manage not Home Scenario includes providing the receiver notifications regarding to the specific delivery date and time, seeking information related with the best delivery slot. Based on the information from the receiver, integrators adjust the delivery timings ensuring successful delivery in the first attempt. Collaboration with online retailers approach ensures the online retailers capture sufficient information like proper delivery address, e-mail and contact numbers for effective delivery operations. This approach should also include informing the end customer about the total landed cost of the shipment comprising of the possible duty and tax that might arise.Outsourcing is a method that is currently adopted by almost all integrators. Outsourcing approach are generally pursued in case of high cost deliveries (low density areas, heavy weight) Delivery partners can be either 3rd party delivery companies or individuals that are delivering shipments on part time basis also known as lifestyle couriers. This approach also helps the integrators to manage the seasonality effect of the B2C deliveries. Delivery to neighbor is referred as an alternative method and is used commonly in European countries. In case of the approval of the receiver, integrators deliver the shipments to a neighbor, avoiding the second time delivery attempt.Automated parcel stations are again an emerging strategy for integrators. The automated parcel stations allow receivers to pick up their parcels at any time of the day. Users enroll for this service and when they shop online, instead of giving their residential address they give the address of the preferred parcel station (close proximity to their office or home). Carriers simply notice the receivers by means of e-mail or SMS that their parcel is ready for pick up from the automated parcel terminal. The receiver can proceed to the automated terminal and claim their parcel using their secure identification number. These terminals have started to be utilized by many postal operators around Europe however started to gain popularity in Asia as well. One of the common strategies for the integrators is partnering with retailers (convenience shops) to utilize their extensive networks in residential areas for their delivery operations. Despite the fact that they are currently used for shipment drop off locations, there is a chance that they can be used as shipment pick up locations as well. The networks of retailers with extended working hours such as 7-Eleven are used to deliver shipments. Customers are directed to their preferred retail locations to pick their shipments. The retailers benefit from the system both by being paid a transaction fee for each delivery and increased shop traffic contributing their daily turnover. A focus group working for one of the global integrator’s regional office that is managing Asia Pacific region have been asked to rate these initiatives using 6 criteria (end customer satisfaction, impact to final mile delivery cost, return on investment, shipment security, scalability and cultural acceptance). Using the scores of the regional expert group, the strategic initiatives have been ranked in importance order, giving a ranking for each criteria as well as a total score for each strategic initiative. The framework incorporates local significance factor in the methodology that caters for local differences in the various countries. This is achieved by introducing the model at Singapore that is selected as pilot country and asking the operations management team in the country to give weightings for the criteria in the model as per country specific priorities. The final step allows the model to be tested in the field and proves the validity of the framework developed. The thesis reveals that final mile delivery issues related with B2C cross border deliveries requires integrated solutions that extends to the early stages if B2C e-Commerce value chain. Integrators need to leverage technology to be able to proactively manage the delivery process and deploy alternative approaches to conventional methods simultaneously to address the final mile delivery issues.