The Asian Journal of Shipping and Logistics 38 (2021) 25–30

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

The Asian Journal of Shipping and Logistics

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ajsl

Determinants of customer satisfaction with parcel locker services in

last-mile logistics ]]
]]]]]]
]]

⁎
Po-Lin Lai a, Hyunmi Jang b, , Mingjie Fang c, Ke Peng a
a
Department of International Logistics, Chung-Ang University, Seoul 06974, Republic of Korea
b
Graduate School of International Studies, Pusan National University, Busan, Republic of Korea
c
Department of Logistics, Service & Operations Management, Korea University Business School, Seoul, Republic of Korea

a r t i cl e i nfo a bstr ac t

Article history: Based on the service quality (SERVQUAL) model and logistics service quality (LSQ) model, this study in-
Received 23 August 2021 vestigates the antecedents of customer satisfaction with parcel locker services in last-mile logistics. Data
Accepted 1 November 2021 were collected from a survey of 321 consumers in China and analyzed using structural equation modeling.
The results indicate that timeliness is the strongest predictor that positively impacts customer satisfaction
Keywords:
with parcel locker services, while reliability and security are the predictive coefficients for the same, fol-
Parcel locker services
lowed by responsiveness and tangibility, respectively. This study enriches the literature on SERVQUAL and
Customer Satisfaction
Last-mile logistics LSQ by providing implications for logistics service providers.
Service quality © 2021 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of The Korean Association of
SERVQUAL Shipping and Logistics, Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
CC_BY_NC_ND_4.0

1. Introduction future, indicating that express containers will increase in popularity

Numerous studies have revealed that the rapid development of
e-commerce has considerably benefited the Chinese logistics in-
dustry (Janjevic & Winkenbach, 2020; Zeng, 2018). However, chal-
lenges that coexist with these opportunities have also attracted
much attention. Specifically, because of the mutual interference of a
series of distribution problems such as distribution interruption,
distribution delay, low service quality, and imperfect distribution
network, the traditional distribution model is gradually in a passive
state during the last-mile distribution process (Boyer, Prud'homme,
& Chung, 2009; Laseinde & Mpofu, 2017; Pronello, Camusso, &
Valentina, 2017). The emergence of self-collection services is es-
sential to alleviate the deficiencies of traditional last-mile logistics in
many distribution problems, and in a true sense, to realize the
transformation of the delivery service concept in methods (Xiong, Ji,
Ding, & Zhang, 2020). In 2020, the self-collection market reached
35.4 billion RMB, a compound annual growth rate of 40%, and the
research institute predicts that the proportion will be higher in the
⁎
Correspondence to: 2, Busandaehak-ro, 63beon-gil, Geumjeong-gu, Busan 46241,
Republic of Korea.
E-mail addresses: polin@cau.ac.kr (L. Po-Lin), jangh01@pusan.ac.kr (J. Hyunmi),
mj_fang@korea.ac.kr (F. Mingjie), pengke0825@gmail.com (P. Ke).
in the next few years.
Parcel locker, also known as smart locker and automated parcel
station (APS), is the service point involved in self-collection service
(Wang, Yuen, Wong, & Teo, 2018; Yuen, Wang, Ng, & Wong, 2018). It
helps last-mile service providers (LSPs) minimize failed deliveries,
enabling them to deliver the parcels in less time-consuming trips. In
addition, consumers can significantly reduce opportunity costs by
choosing the time and place for pickup of the goods, namely any
time of the day, per their convenience (Deutsch & Golany, 2018;
Mostakim, Sarkar, & Hossain, 2019). The parcel locker has changed
the conventional distribution and the roles of terminal delivery
personnel and target consumers in the delivery process. In the tra-
ditional last-mile distribution, the process of consumer items was
similar to that in target handover, but in the parcel locker service,
consumers not only take a single identity but also assume the role of
distribution, which significantly reduces the pressure on the dis-
tribution terminal enterprises that they face due to lack of delivery
staff (Chen, White, & Hsieh, 2020; Farooq, Fu, Hao, Jonathan, &
Zhang, 2019).
Although extant studies have argued that parcel lockers have
great value in the self-collection service, scant evidence has been
provided on the influencing factors of customer satisfaction re-
garding parcel lockers. Therefore, by combining the service quality
(SERVQUAL) model and the logistics service quality (LSQ) model, this

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajsl.2021.11.002
2092-5212/© 2021 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of The Korean Association of Shipping and Logistics, Inc. This is an open access article under the
CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
CC_BY_NC_ND_4.0
L. Po-Lin, J. Hyunmi, F. Mingjie et al.
study aims to identify the determinants of service quality in parcel
lockers and examine their impact on customer satisfaction.
The rest of this paper is organized as follows. The next section
reviews the relevant literature on parcel lockers, LSQ, and service
quality and presents the hypotheses. Research methodology is pre-
sented in Section 3, followed by results and discussions. Finally,
Section 5 concludes by summarizing the implications, limitations,
and research agenda.
2. Literature review and hypotheses development
2.1. Parcel locker
As discussed earlier, a parcel locker is a device that can provide
consumers and LSPs with a 24/7 automatic and simplified parcel
receiving and unloading process (Wang et al., 2018; Yuen et al.,
2018). Online purchased parcels are placed in a nearby APS, a locker
facility with a digitalized interface. Notification messages are then
sent to consumers, informing them about the collection location and
password needed to access the designated locker. The consumers
can then plan accordingly to collect their parcels themselves (Wang
et al., 2018). In the current research context, most self-collection
facilities are located within walking distances from residential areas,
which are highly accessible by non-motorized modes of transport.
These facilities are mainly installed in subway entrances, super-
markets, campuses, and other convenient and crowded places
(Lachapelle, Burke, Brotherton, & Leung, 2018). At this stage, the
service provided by the parcel locker is primarily the collection and
mailing of express parcels. When the LSPs use the parcel locker for
delivery, the intelligent LSP cabinet system will first verify the LSPs’
identity.
After appropriate verification, the LSPs can place the express in
the parcel locker. The parcel locker will automatically dispatch the
express identity and then send the generated pickup address and
verification code to the consumer. After receiving the information,
the consumer can arrive at the corresponding place conveniently
and enter the verification code to collect the shipment. In addition,
when consumers tend to use the parcel locker for a shipment, the
parcel locker will first weigh the parcel and upload information of
the consignment on the display screen. After that, the consumer can
choose the shipping mode (low-slow/fast expensive). After paying
the postage, the system will automatically open a cabinet.
Consumers are only required to place the delivery in the cabinet.
After that, the LSPs will come to pick up the package after verifying
consumer identity at the APS. The system will open the cabinet
where the LSPs need to be sent to facilitate the post.
For customers, parcel locker is convenient and fast; it effectively
protects customer privacy. Its 24-hour service can efficiently solve
the pickup problem of office workers and students (Tsai & Tiwasing,
2021); for LSPs, the use of parcel locker can significantly improve
delivery efficiency and reduce delivery waiting time and commu-
nication time (Pan, Zhang, Thompson, & Ghaderi, 2021). For ex-
ample, with the use of the APS, LSPs can realize the centralized
delivery of express for the property, the parcel locker receiving mode
can save the management cost of the property and reduce the
pressure of receiving the parcel. Moreover, the parcel locker is quiet
and tidy, which is convenient for unified management. The property
company can devote more human and material resources to provide
a higher level of service to the owners (Chen et al., 2020; Vakulenko,
Hellstrom, & Hjort, 2018). Overall, parcel locker delivery has played
an essential role in enhancing the diversity of last-mile delivery,
improving customer experience, reducing delivery costs, and
building an efficient delivery system. Thus, it is of great significance
in last-mile delivery (Chen et al., 2020; Deutsch & Golany, 2018; Liu
et al., 2021; Rabe, Gonzalez-Feliu, Chicaiza-Vaca, & Tordecilla, 2021).
26
The Asian Journal of Shipping and Logistics 38 (2021) 25–30
2.2. Service quality and customer satisfaction
Scholars agree that service quality is directly or indirectly related
to firm operations such as cost management, customer satisfaction,
customer loyalty, customer retention, and profitability (Buyukozkan
& Cifci, 2012; Gupta, 2018; Li & Shang, 2020). Service quality is
generated by comparing consumers’ expectations of the service
quality with their actual feelings after receiving the service. Service
function quality and technical quality collectively constitute service
quality. Among them, functional quality is a relatively subjective
category, comprising personal judgment of consumers about the
service personnel’s behavior, attitude, and many other factors. The
technical quality of a service is similar to the traditional product
quality; it exists objectively and can be objectively evaluated by
customers (Gronroos, 1982).
Services are different from production in that there is a process
for their delivery. The customer perceived service quality, therefore,
not only refers to the perceived results after service delivery but also
reflects the process of service delivery and cannot be measured by
the traditional theory of product quality service. Furthermore, ser-
vice quality is considered the customer perception of the actual
service with its before service than between the expectations of the
results. At the same time, the service quality level is determined by
the difference between the service level expected by customers
before receiving the service and the service effect perceived by
customers during the service process (Parasuraman et al., 1985).
Although many scholars have defined the quality of service with
their characteristics above, it is not difficult to conclude these
viewpoints and identify the following features of quality of service:
(1) Subjectivity: Service quality is not something objective, but the
subjective feeling of consumers. (2) Differences: Consumers’ per-
ception of service quality is affected by individual and environ-
mental factors. Therefore, different customers have different
perceptions of service quality in different environments. (3) Inter-
action: The communication between the service provider and the
customer impacts the customer’s perception of service quality.
2.3. Conceptual framework and hypotheses development
The theoretical foundation of this study is two-fold: SERVQUAL
and LSQ. Following Parasuraman, Berry, and Zeithaml (2002), this
study uses SERVQUAL as a part of our theoretical foundation. The
SERVQUAL model has been widely adopted for measuring service
quality in various fields. For instance, Li (2010) combined the char-
acteristics of the exhibition, created the E-SERVQUAL model, and
significantly added the professionalism dimension. Yu and Du (2013)
modified the SERVQUAL model according to the current status and
characteristics of the express service industry in the online shopping
environment to increase the security dimension. Other studies, such
as Zhang (2019), combined the characteristics of rural areas in Si-
chuan and divided the SERVQUAL scale into five dimensions of
“service convenience, service responsiveness, service care, service
tangibility, and service economy” to analyze the impact of the rural
express terminals factor.
In this study, the following four dimensions stemming from
SERVQUAL are adopted in the model: Tangibles, which mainly refers
to the site, environment, and all kinds of hardware facilities and
equipment needed to provide service; Responsiveness refers to
whether the LSPs can provide accurate, prompt service; Security
refers to whether the service provided by LSPs can improve the
customer’s trust and sense of security, which is mainly affected by
the service attitude and serviceability of the service personnel; and
Reliability explicitly measures whether the business can provide
customers with error-free services during the whole journey.
Additionally, several representative studies that echo these dimen-
sions are summarized in Table 1.
L. Po-Lin, J. Hyunmi, F. Mingjie et al.
Table 1
Representative studies on SERVQUAL.
The author Influencing factors
Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (1988) Tangibility, Responsiveness, Reliability, Assurance, Empathy
Vaughan and Shiu (2001) Authorization of the organization, Humanization, Service personnel competence
Brady and Cronin (2001) Interaction quality, Physical environment quality, Result quality
Stank, Goldsby, Vickery, and Savitskie (2003) Timeliness, Reliability, Accuracy
Parasuraman (2005) Efficiency, Fulfillment, System availability, Privacy
Freeman and Rolland (2010) Labeled ease of use, Information content, Fulfillment reliability, Security, Privacy, After-sales service
Rahim, Voon, and Mahdi (2016) Product development, Tangibility, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, Empathy
Consensus has formed on the association between service quality
and customer satisfaction (Cameran, Moizer, & Pettinicchio, 2010;
Dam & Dam, 2021; Nguyen, Pham, Tran, & Pham, 2020; Rha, 2012).
Specifically, there is increasing recognition that service quality can be a
robust predictor of customer satisfaction (Putro & Rachmat, 2019;
Santouridis & Trivellas, 2010). A firm’s competitive advantage is sa-
tisfying clients better than its rivals, surpassing clients’ needs and
wants better than its competitors (Minta, 2018). Since customer sa-
tisfaction significantly impacts a company’s customer relationship
maintenance and market share of its products/services, the academic
and practical circles have been full of a strong interest in this issue.
Through empirical research, some scholars have proved that customer
satisfaction plays a vital role in a company’s marketing function. For
example, it affects customer retention and loyalty, prompts customers
to repeat purchases, and improves an enterprise’s market share and
profit level, thus forming a competitive advantage. Therefore, more
and more enterprises attach importance to customer satisfaction and
consider it a significant performance index.
Although many scholars have defined customer satisfaction, the
definition accepted by most scholars was put forward by Oliver
Richard (1997): Customer satisfaction is a kind of psychological state
of customers after their needs are satisfied. It is a kind of value
judgment of customers on the extent to which products or services
can meet their own needs. Customer satisfaction also includes sa-
tisfaction, happiness, curiosity, surprise, and other forms of expression.
In this definition, customer satisfaction, as a psychological response, is
generated from comparing the customers’ actual perception of the
service and their expectation of the service. Customers will buy a
product or service because this kind of product or service can meet
their needs, such as providing pleasure and pain relief.
Sun, Du, and Li (2011) considered online shopping as the back-
ground. They used the SERVQUAL model to confirm an apparent re-
lationship between service quality and customer satisfaction of express
delivery companies and to show that tangibility, reliability, respon-
siveness, and other dimensions have different influences on customer
satisfaction and customer loyalty, thus demonstrating the importance of
service quality to enterprises. Along the same lines, Ma (2014) believed
that customer satisfaction had become the pursuit of various en-
terprises nowadays; through the analysis of customer satisfaction, they
can provide and improve the quality of service. By analyzing the service
quality of China express, building an analysis model, administering a
questionnaire for data collection, and by examining the data, Ma (2014)
identified that five dimensions of service quality and customer sa-
tisfaction had a positive correlation. Thus, logistics enterprises can im-
prove the five dimensions of service quality and improve customer
satisfaction. Wang and Lu (2017) constructed evaluation indexes and
analyzed them with analytic hierarchy process and fuzzy mathematics,
providing a reference for other express delivery enterprises.
Based on the above interpretation, the following hypotheses are
proposed:
H1. Tangibility has a positive impact on overall customer
satisfaction.
H2. Responsiveness has a positive impact on overall customer
satisfaction.
27
The Asian Journal of Shipping and Logistics 38 (2021) 25–30
H3. Security has a positive impact on overall customer satisfaction.
H4. Reliability has a positive impact on overall customer satisfaction.
H5. Timeliness has a positive impact on overall customer
satisfaction.
3. Methodology
3.1. Survey design and measurement items
This study applies structural equation modeling (SEM) to test its
research model and hypotheses. This method is considered appro-
priate because it involves analyzing the relationships between the
latent constructs, which are multidimensional (Yuen et al., 2019).
(Table 2).
In this study, a quantitative survey technique was used for data
collection. The questionnaire survey was mainly divided into three
parts. The first part explains that the survey is intended for academic
research and that the answers are anonymous. The second part aims
to explore the demographic characteristics of the interviewees; in-
formation was collected on gender, age, education, occupation,
monthly income, and region. The third part of the questionnaire
contains some opinions and feelings of the respondents on the use of
parcel lockers (Table 3); a five-point Likert scale from “Strongly dis-
agree” (1) to “Strongly agree” (5) is adopted to measure these items.
3.2. Data collection
An online pilot survey was conducted to test the feasibility of the
questionnaire from April 1 to April 7, 2021, and distributed directly
to 25 respondents via email, communication apps (wechat, line,
WhatsApp etc.), and face to face interview. The results showed that
all the respondents understood all the questions. The main re-
quirement for the interviewees needs to have experience for using
parcel locker. The research questionnaire was collected between
April 9 and April 21, 2021. In total 351 questionnaires were collected,
of which 321 were valid, and response rate was 91.45%. The ques-
tionnaire and links were posted on questionnaire platform, sent out
by email, and communication apps to collect data. Because space
does not limit the online transmission, it can increase the diversity
of the sample and reduce the measurement result caused by the
homogeneity of the sample.
4. Results and discussions
4.1. Demographic profile
As seen in Table 3, there are more men than women, but the
overall numbers are similar and evenly distributed, with the ratio of
50.2:49.8. In the age structure, the proportion aged 20–30 years is
the largest, with a total of 147 persons, accounting for 45.8% of the
total. Next, 40.8% are aged 31–40 years; users of parcel lockers are
mainly in the 20–40 years age group, which is also in line with the
distribution of express counter users. In terms of occupation, the
L. Po-Lin, J. Hyunmi, F. Mingjie et al. The Asian Journal of Shipping and Logistics 38 (2021) 25–30

Table 2
Measurement scale.

Construct Measurement Items Source

Tangibles (TAN) A1. Your satisfaction with the appearance design of the parcel locker (whether it is beautiful and Parasuraman et al. (1988)
fashionable).
A2. Your satisfaction with the grid size of the parcel locker (whether it can meet daily needs).
A3. Your satisfaction with the number of slots in the parcel locker (whether it can meet your Duc, Hong, and Phuc (2020)
daily needs).
A4. Your satisfaction with the modernization of parcel locker facilities (such as face recognition,
QR code pickup).
A5. Your satisfaction with the upgrading speed of parcel locker facilities.
Responsiveness (RES) B1. Do you think the parcel locker can accurately notify you of the pickup time? Parasuraman et al. (1988)
B2. Do you think the parcel locker has a large number of outlets and a wide coverage?
B3. Your satisfaction with parcel locker management staff regarding the processing speed of lost Duc et al. (2020)
or damaged express parcels.
B4. Your satisfaction with the speed of troubleshooting for parcel locker managers.
Security (SEC) C1. I think parcel locker can accurately deliver the goods to your hands. Yu and Du (2013)
C2. I think parcel locker pickup can guarantee the quality of the goods.
C3. I think the parcel locker will not disclose or misappropriate information about the sender,
recipient, and goods.
C4. I believe that when paying fees to parcel locker companies, the payment environment or
method is safe.
Reliability (REL) D1. I think the functions and services promised by the parcel locker to customers can be Parasuraman et al. (1988)
completed in time.
D2. When I encounter problems during use, service providers of parcel lockers can provide
solutions.
D3. Do you think the parcel locker company is reliable and trustworthy? Duc et al. (2020)
D4. Do you think parcel locker can provide delivery within the promised time and other
functional services?
D5. Do you think the networking function of the parcel locker can correctly record the express
waybill in detail?
Timeliness (TIM) E1. Do you think parcel lockers can provide intelligent services 24 h a day? Mentzer, Flint, and Hult (2001)
E2. Your satisfaction with the notification speed of parcel lockers (whether the notification is
timely or not).
E3. When you use the parcel locker to send the courier, the package is picked up in time.
E4. When you use the parcel locker to send the express, the parcel locker can update the
logistics information in time.
Overall Service Satisfaction (SAT) F1. Do you think using a parcel locker is the right choice? Duc et al. (2020)
F2. Do you think the service provided by the parcel locker is in line with your expectations?
F3. How satisfied are you with the overall service of the parcel locker?

respondents are mainly students and enterprise employees, 34.0%
and 35.2%, respectively. In addition, there is a corresponding dis-
tribution among occupations such as public institutions and private
owners. In terms of monthly income, the number of persons earning
Table 3
Profile of survey respondents.
between 6001 and 9000 RMB amounts to 151, or 25.9%, respectively;
the next are those earning 3001–6000 RMB or 22.4%. To sum up, the
survey sample gender distribution is even; the age is concentrated in
20–40 years range, in line with the distribution of express counter
users; the monthly income is mainly distributed in the 3000–9000
RMB range; the occupation distribution is wide; the sample range is
wide, and has certain representativeness and persuasiveness.

Characteristics Observations Frequency Percentage

4.2. Measurement model assessment
(n = 321) (%)

Gender Male 161 50.2 To evaluate the reliability and validity of the measurement model
Female 160 49.8
Age < 20 years 20 6.2
fit, a confirmatory factor analysis is performed; the results are pre-
20–30 years 147 45.8 sented in Tables 4 and 5. The results in Table 4 show the following:
31–40 years 131 40.8 (1) the ratio of the Chi-square value to the degree of freedom (χ2/df)
> 40 years 23 7.2 = 1.516.(p < 0.05); (2) Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) = 0.961; (3) com-
Employment Student 109 34.0
parative fit index (CFI) = 0.966, (4) root mean square error of ap-
Employee 113 35.2
Civil servants 40 12.5 proximation (RMSEA) = 0.040, and (5) standardized root mean
Self-owned 27 8.4 square residual (SRMR) = 0.038. It is found that the measurement
business model is a good fit for the sample as a result of the model fit indices
Other 32 10.0 being within the cut-off range recommended by Hu and Ben-
Education Junior high school 48 15.0
tler (1999).
and below
High school 47 14.6 In addition to the model fit, the measurement model is also
Undergraduate 188 58.6 evaluated for reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant va-
Masters 36 11.2 lidity. As regards reliability, Hair et al. (2010) proposed that the
Ph.D. and above 2 0.6
composite reliability (CR) of each construct should exceed 0.70, and
Monthly < 3000 70 21.8
income (RMB) standardized factor loadings (λ) should be higher than 0.50. As the
3001–6000 72 22.4 results indicate, the CRs of the constructs are all above 0.80, which
6001–9000 83 25.9 indicating the constructs of the measurement model are considered
9001–12000 68 21.2 reliable. For the convergent validity, scholars have suggested that the
> 12000 28 8.7
constructs’ average variance extracted (AVE) should exceed 0.50 (Lai,

28
L. Po-Lin, J. Hyunmi, F. Mingjie et al. The Asian Journal of Shipping and Logistics 38 (2021) 25–30

Table 4 4.3. Structural model assessment

Confirmatory factor analysis results.

Construct Item λ AVE CR A SEM analysis was conducted to test the hypotheses, and the
Tangibility (TAN) A1 0.762 0.544 0.857
results are shown in Tables 5 and 6. The same goodness-of-fit criteria
A2 0.744 (i.e., 1 < χ2/df < 3, CFI > 0.90, TLI > 0.90, SRMR < 0.08, and RMSEA <
A3 0.737 0.06) were adopted to determine the fit of the proposed model. The
A4 0.704 presented results in Table 5 suggest a good model fit. The results
A5 0.741
indicate that Tangibility has a significant positive impact on overall
Responsiveness (RES) B1 0.779 0.582 0.848
B2 0.731 service satisfaction (β = 0.154, p < 0.05); thus H1 was accepted;
B3 0.762 Responsiveness has a significant positive impact on overall service
B4 0.779 satisfaction (β = 0.165, p < 0.05), supporting H2; Security has a sig-
Security (SEC) C1 0.778 0.581 0.847 nificant positive impact on overall service satisfaction (β = 0.203,
C2 0.795
C3 0.697
p < 0.05), so H3 is established; Reliability has a significant positive
C4 0.775 impact on overall service satisfaction (β = 0.219, p < 0.05), so H4 was
Reliability (REL) D1 0.786 0.573 0.870 accepted; Timeliness has a significant positive effect on overall ser-
D2 0.787 vice satisfaction (β = 0.221, p < 0.05), generating support for H5.
D3 0.737
(Table 7).
D4 0.707
D5 0.765
Timeliness (TIM) E1 0.715 0.570 0.841
E2 0.773 5. Conclusion
E3 0.784
E4 0.747
Satisfaction (SAT) F1 0.789 0.650 0.847
This study investigated the determinants of customer satisfaction
F2 0.863 with parcel locker service. Five dimensions—tangibility, respon-
F3 0.763 siveness, security, reliability, and timeliness—were found to posi-
Note: Model fit indices: χ2/df = 1.516, CFI = 0.966; TLI = 0.961; RMSEA = 0.040; tively affect customers’ satisfaction. Among them, the path
SRMR= 0.038. coefficient of timeliness was the strongest predictor, higher than the
others. This factor plays the most crucial role in customer satisfac-
tion of parcel locker services. People who use the parcel locker
Table 5 service attach great importance to timeliness. This result agrees with
Construct correlation and square root of AVE. the findings of previous studies (Ferreira, Nunes, & Marques, 2020;
TAN RES SEC REL TIM SAT Reilly, McKelvey-Walsh, Freundlich, & Brenner, 2011; Tuncer,
TAN 0.738a
Unusan, & Cobanoglu, 2021). Therefore, managers should endeavor
RES 0.391b 0.763 to provide customers prompt and flexible services. For example, the
SEC 0.592 0.395 0.762 operating system of the courier should be constantly optimized to
REL 0.430 0.581 0.539 0.757 avoid system crashes, and LSPs should be available to help customers
TIM 0.272 0.494 0.392 0.692 0.755
when they have problems. In addition, our results also show that
SAT 0.493 0.542 0.564 0.644 0.575 0.806
reliability and security are the second critical significant factors in
a
Square roots of AVE values are along the main diagonal; explaining customer satisfaction. Our results support prior studies
b
Correlations of constructs are below the main diagonal.
(Boronico, 1998; Grassi & Patella, 2006; Ihtiyar & Ahmad, 2015;
McGranaghan, 2007), suggesting LSPs should pay attention to pro-
Table 6 viding customers reliable and safe service. Lastly, the third strongest
Measurement model fit indices. predictor for customer satisfaction is responsiveness, followed by
CMIN df CMIN/DF NFI IFI TLI CFI GFI RMSEA tangibility. Thus, we suggest the LSPs make sure that equipment for
394.112 260 1.516 0.908 0.967 0.961 0.966 0.913 0.040
parcel locker services should be visually appealing and neat to
achieve better customer satisfaction.
There are a few limitations and deficiencies in this study, such as
the geographic restriction. As the investigation was conducted in
Su, Tai, & Yang, 2020). Therefore, the convergent validity of the China, the results may not be suitable to be applied directly to other
model is confirmed as AVEs in Table 4 are all above the threshold cultural or geographical contexts. Therefore, we encourage future
value. studies to examine the model in other contexts. Another drawback
With regard to discriminant validity, the inter-correlations of this study may be the theoretical foundation. Our study only
values between constructs should be less than their square root of studied the customer satisfaction of parcel locker services from the
AVE (Chang, Lu, & Lai, 2021). As shown in Table 5, all the constructs lens of SERVQUAL and LSQ. Thus, future studies can apply other
have fulfilled the above conditions, suggesting confirmation of models such as the technology acceptance model or attitude theory
discriminant validity. to investigate customer satisfaction of parcel locker services.

Table 7
Results of hypotheses testing.

Hypotheses Path Estimate S.E. CR P-value Supported?

H1 SAT <— TAN 0.154 0.055 2.269 0.023 Yes

H2 SAT <— RES 0.165 0.062 2.461 0.014 Yes
H3 SAT <— SEC 0.203 0.067 2.760 0.006 Yes
H4 SAT <— REL 0.219 0.080 2.411 0.016 Yes
H5 SAT <— TIM 0.221 0.071 2.790 0.005 Yes

29
L. Po-Lin, J. Hyunmi, F. Mingjie et al.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing fi-
nancial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
References
Boronico, J. S. (1998). An investigation into the costs and benefits of reliability of
service. Omega-International Journal of Management Science, 26(1), 99–114.
Boyer, K. K., Prud'homme, A. M., & Chung, W. (2009). The last mile challenge: eval-
uating the effects of customer density and delivery window patterns. Journal of
Business Logistics, 30(1), 185–201.
Brady, M., & Cronin, J. (2001). Some New Thoughts on Conceptualizing Perceived
Service Quality: A Hierarchical Approach. Journal of Marketing, 65(3), 34–49.
Buyukozkan, G., & Cifci, G. (2012). A combined fuzzy AHP and fuzzy TOPSIS based
strategic analysis of electronic service quality in healthcare industry. Expert
Systems with Applications, 39(3), 2341–2354.
Cameran, M., Moizer, P., & Pettinicchio, A. (2010). Customer satisfaction, corporate
image, and service quality in professional services. Service Industries Journal, 30(3),
421–435.
Chang, C.-H., Lu, C.-S., & Lai, P.-L. (2021). Examining the drivers of competitive ad-
vantage of the international logistics industry. International Journal of Logistics
Research and Applications, 1–19.
Chen, C. F., White, C., & Hsieh, Y. E. (2020). The role of consumer participation
readiness in automated parcel station usage intentions. Journal of Retailing and
Consumer Services, 54, Article 102063.
Dam, S. M., & Dam, T. C. (2021). Relationships between Service Quality, Brand Image,
Customer Satisfaction, and Customer Loyalty. Journal of Asian Finance Economics
and Business, 8(3), 585–593.
Deutsch, Y., & Golany, B. (2018). A parcel locker network as a solution to the logistics
last mile problem. International Journal of Production Research, 56(1–2), 251–261.
Duc, N. L., Hong, T. N., & Phuc, H. T. (2020). Port logistics service quality and customer
satisfaction: Empirical evidence from Vietnam. The Asian Journal of Shipping and
Logistics, 36, 89–103.
Farooq, Q., Fu, P., Hao, Y., Jonathan, T., & Zhang, Y. (2019). A review of management and
importance of E-commerce implementation in service delivery of private express
enterprises of China. SAGE Open, 9(1), Article 215824401882419
2158244018824194.
Ferreira, D. C., Nunes, A. M., & Marques, R. C. (2020). Operational efficiency vs clinical
safety, care appropriateness, timeliness, and access to health care The case of
Portuguese public hospitals. Journal of Productivity Analysis, 53(3), 355–375.
Freeman, S., & Rolland, I. (2010). A new measure of e‐service quality in France.
International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, 38(7), 497–517.
Grassi, V., & Patella, S. (2006). Reliability prediction for service-oriented computing
environments. Ieee Internet Computing, 10(3), 43–49. https://doi.org/10.1109/mic.
2006.64
Gronroos, C. (1982). An Applied Service Marketing Theory. European Journal of
Marketing, 16(7), 30–41.
Gupta, H. (2018). Evaluating service quality of airline industry using hybrid best worst
method and VIKOR. Journal of Air Transport Management, 68, 35–47. https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.jairtraman.2017.06.001
Hair, F. J., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate Data Analysis A
Global Perspective (Seventh Edition). New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Ihtiyar, A., & Ahmad, F. S. (2015). The Role of Intercultural Communication
Competence on Service Reliability and Customer Satisfaction. Journal of Economic
and Social Studies, 5(1), 145–168. https://doi.org/10.14706/jecoss11518
Janjevic, M., & Winkenbach, M. (2020). Characterizing urban last-mile distribution
strategies in mature and emerging e-commerce markets. Transportation Research
Part A: Policy and Practice, 133, 164–196.
Lachapelle, U., Burke, M., Brotherton, A., & Leung, A. (2018). Parcel locker systems in a
car dominant city: Location, characterisation and potential impacts on city
planning and consumer travel access. Journal of Transport Geography, 71, 1–14.
Lai, P.-L., Su, D.-T., Tai, H.-H., & Yang, C.-C. (2020). The impact of collaborative decision-
making on logistics service performance for container shipping services. Maritime
Business Review, 5(2), 175–191.
Laseinde, O. T., & Mpofu, K. (2017). Providing solution to last mile challenges in postal
operations. International Journal of Logistics Research and Applications, 20(5),
475–490.
Li, Y., & Shang, H. P. (2020). Service quality, perceived value, and citizens' continuous-
use intention regarding e-government: Empirical evidence from China.
Information & Management, 57(3), Article, 57, Article 103197.
Liu, S., Liu, Y., Zhang, R. R., Cao, Y. W., Li, M., Zikirya, B., & Zhou, C. S. (2021).
Heterogeneity of Spatial Distribution and Factors Influencing Unattended Locker
Points in Guangzhou. China: The Case of Hive Boxing International Journal of Geo-
Information, 10(6).
McGranaghan, M. F. (2007). Quantifying reliability and service quality for distribution
systems. Ieee Transactions on Industry Applications, 43(1), 188–195. https://doi.org/
10.1109/tia.2006.886990
30
The Asian Journal of Shipping and Logistics 38 (2021) 25–30
Mentzer, J., Flint, D., & Hult, G. (2001). Logistics Service Quality as a Segment-custo-
mized Process. Journal of Marketing, 65(4), 82–104.
Minta, Y. (2018). Link between satisfaction and customer loyalty in the insurance
industry: Moderating effect of trust and commitment. Journal of Marketing
Management, 6(2), 25–33.
Mostakim, N., Sarkar, R. R., & Hossain, M. A. (2019). Smart locker: IoT based intelligent
locker with password protection and face detection approach. International
Journal of Wireless and Microwave Technologies, 9(3), 1–10.
Nguyen, D. T., Pham, V. T., Tran, D. M., & Pham, D. B. T. (2020). Impact of Service
Quality, Customer Satisfaction and Switching Costs on Customer Loyalty. Journal
of Asian Finance Economics and Business, 7(8), 395–405. https://doi.org/10.13106/
jafeb.2020.vol7.no8.395
Oliver Richard, L. (1997). Satisfaction: A Behavioral Perspective on the Customer. New
York: Irwin McGraw Hill,.
Pan, S. C., Zhang, L. L., Thompson, R. G., & Ghaderi, H. (2021). A parcel network flow
approach for joint delivery networks using parcel lockers. International Journal of
Production Research, 59(7), 2090–2115. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2020.
1856440
Parasuraman, A., Berry, L., & Zeithaml, V. (2002). Refinement and reassessment of the
SERVQUAL scale. Journal of Retailing, 67(4), 114.
Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. A., & Berry, LL. (1985). A conceptual model of service
quality and its implications for future research. Journal of marketing, 49(4), 41–50.
Pronello, C., Camusso, C., & Valentina, R. (2017). Last mile freight distribution and
transport operators’ needs: which targets and challenges? Transportation Research
Procedia, 25, 888–899.
Putro, R., & Rachmat, B. (2019). Effect of Brand Image and Service Quality on Customer
Satisfaction and Loyalty at Bank Jatim Syariah Surabaya. Russian Journal of
Agricultural and Socio-Economic Sciences, 87(3), 152–165.
Rabe, M., Gonzalez-Feliu, J., Chicaiza-Vaca, J., & Tordecilla, R. D. (2021). Simulation-
Optimization Approach for Multi-Period Facility Location Problems with
Forecasted and Random Demands in a Last-Mile Logistics Application. Algorithms,
14(2), 41.
Rahim, Z., Voon, B. Z., & Mahdi, R. (2016). Exploring the Dimensions of Contract
Manufacturing Service Quality for the F&B Industry. Procedia - Social and
Behavioral Sciences, 224, 76–83.
Reilly, S. H., McKelvey-Walsh, N., Freundlich, M., & Brenner, E. (2011). Training and
Technology: Improving the Quality and Timeliness of Service Plans and Case
Documentation. Administration in Social Work, 35(2), 207–222 Article Pii
935974200.
Rha, J. Y. (2012). Customer satisfaction and qualities in public service: an intermediary
customer perspective. Service Industries Journal, 32(12), 1883–1900.
Santouridis, I., & Trivellas, P. (2010). Investigating the impact of service quality and
customer satisfaction on customer loyalty in mobile telephony in Greece. TQM
Journal, 22(3), 330–343.
Stank, T. P., Goldsby, T. J., Vickery, S. K., & Savitskie, K. (2003). Logistics service per-
formance: estimating its influence on market share. Journal of Business Logistics,
24(1), 27–55.
Sun, Y., Du, J., & Li, W. (2011). Research on Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction and
Loyalty Based on Online Shopping. Statistics and Decision, 95–97.
Tsai, Y. T., & Tiwasing, P. (2021). Customers' intention to adopt smart lockers in last-
mile delivery service: A multi-theory perspective. Journal of Retailing and
Consumer Services, 61, Article 102514.
Tuncer, I., Unusan, C., & Cobanoglu, C. (2021). Service Quality, Perceived Value and
Customer Satisfaction on Behavioral Intention in Restaurants: An Integrated
Structural Model. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, 22(4),
447–475.
Vakulenko, Y., Hellstrom, D., & Hjort, K. (2018). What's in the parcel locker? Exploring
customer value in e-commerce last mile delivery. Journal of Business Research, 88,
421–427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.11.033
Vaughan, L., & Shiu, E. (2001). ARCHSECRET: a multi-item scale to measure service
quality within the voluntary sector. International Journal of Nonprofit and
Voluntary Sector Marketing, 6(2), 131–144.
Wang, R., & Lu, H. (2017). Research on evaluation indexes of customer satisfaction of
third-Party Logistics Enterprises. Logistics Engineering and Management, 39(11),
60–61.
Wang, X., Yuen, K. F., Wong, Y. D., & Teo, C. C. (2018). An innovation diffusion per-
spective of e-consumers’ initial adoption of self-collection service via automated
parcel station. The International Journal of Logistics Management, 29(1),
237–260.
Xiong, J., Ji, Y., Ding, Y., & Zhang, Y. (2020). Optimization of the Distribution Scheme of
the Last Kilometer of Urban Logistics. Management Science and Engineering, 9(3),
149–156.
Yu, B., & Du, G. (2013). Study on fuzzy evaluation of online shopping express service
quality based on SERVQUAL model. Industrial Engineering, 16(02), 127–133.
Yuen, K. F., Wang, X., Ng, L. T. W., & Wong, Y. D. (2018). An investigation of customers’
intention to use self-collection services for last-mile delivery. Transport Policy,
66, 1–8.
Zeng, M. (2018). Research on the last mile delivery of rural E-commerce in China.
Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, 10, 540–545.
Zhang, J. (2019). An empirical study on the evaluation of Sichuan rural express service
quality based on SERVQUAL. Modern Business, 8, 14–16.