July 31 - August 5 2017, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam Accepted by Executive Review: Eli Cohen │ Received: May 17, 2017 │ Accepted: May 19, 2017. Cite as: Calbeto, J., Abareshi, A., Sriratanaviriyakul, N., Nkhoma, N., Pittayachawan, S., Ulhaq, I., … Vo, H. X. (2017). Lazada’s last mile: Where no e-commerce company in vietnam had gone before. Proceedings of the Inform- ing Science and Information Technology Education Conference, Vietnam, pp. 117-126. Santa Rosa, CA: Informing Science Institute. Retrieved from http://www.informingscience.org/Publications/3755 (CC BY-NC 4.0) This article is licensed to you under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. When you copy and redistribute this paper in full or in part, you need to provide proper attribution to it to ensure that others can later locate this work (and to ensure that others do not accuse you of plagiarism). You may (and we encour- age you to) adapt, remix, transform, and build upon the material for any non-commercial purposes. This license does not permit you to use this material for commercial purposes. LAZADA’S LAST MILE: WHERE NO E-COMMERCE COMPANY IN VIETNAM HAD GONE BEFORE [A DISCUSSION CASE] Jaime Calbeto RMIT University, Vietnam Jcalbeto.2mbs@gmail.com Ahmad Abareshi RMIT University, Australia Ahmad.abareshi@rmit.edu.au Narumon Sriratanaviriyakul* RMIT University, Vietnam narumon@rmit.edu.vn Mathews Nkhoma RMIT University, Vietnam Mathews.nkhoma@rmit.edu.vn Siddhi Pittayachawan RMIT University, Australia Siddhi.pittayachawan@rmit.edu.au Irfan Ulhaq RMIT University, Vietnam Irfan.ulhaq@rmit.edu.vn Fabian Wandt Lazada Vietnam, Vietnam Fabian.wandt@lazada.vn Hung Xuan Vo RMIT University, Vietnam hstify@gmail.com * Corresponding author ABSTRACT Aim/Purpose This case study examines the last-mile logistics model as implemented by Lazada Vietnam, as well as the logistics challenges in the local business environment that led the e-commerce company to dually employ the inventory/retail model and the marketplace model for delivering orders to online customers in Vietnam in search of the way to perfect their last-mile logistics. Background For electronic commerce companies aiming to be successful in customer service, what academics and practitioners refer to as ‘last-mile logistics’ is the one moment of truth, when deliveries have to be planned tactically and exactly, so that orders are delivered to customers at the right time, right place, right quantity, right quali- ty, and ultimately at the right cost. When deciphering this type of supply chain, i.e., one that is e-commerce- driven, last-mile logistics is the one segment of the product flow that directly interacts with the ultimate customer, but many times is the one segment that is the most problematic and less efficient to implement well. Lazada Group, a German e-commerce company, discovered the serious complica- tions of ‘last-mile logistics’ when they first entered Vietnam in 2013. Methodology This case study used qualitative method through interviews with Lazada Vi- etnam’s management.