Special issue call for papers from International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management
Guest Editors: Baofeng Huo (Zhejiang University), Haozhe Chen (Iowa State University), and Henry Jin (Miami University)
Many people might not realize that China has become a fertile ground for logistics and distribution innovations. Booming e-commerce is the driving force of such development. China Daily recently reported that China’s online sales in 2017 is approaching $1 trillion -- almost as much as in America and Britain combined (Zhang, 2017). Already the world’s largest e-commerce market, Goldman Sachs predicts that China’s online share of total retail will continue to rise and will reach 31% by 2020 (The Economist, 2017). In addition to the sheer size of e-commerce in China, the trend highlights the changing behavior of Chinese consumers. It is estimated that about 80% of adults in China’s biggest cities already shop online. According to statista.com, in 2016 around 63.4% of the Chinese mobile online population was using their mobile phones to shop online. This is why The Economist contends that e-commerce in China is “sweeping the board”.
Many Chinese companies are embracing the fast-changing market with great enthusiasm. Instead of passively reacting to market conditions, many leading Chinese firms are taking approaches by creating new business models and processes. These new business models focus on devising innovative ways of attracting consumers by fundamentally changing how consumers make their purchases, pay for their products and have them delivered. As a result, Chinese e-commerce giants are emerging. Alibaba is leading this transition. The Economist suggests that Alibaba should be viewed as a combination of Amazon, Twitter, eBay, and PayPal, but broader. Another leading firm is Tencent that started its business in online gaming and messaging, but has become a major competitor of Alibaba by capturing a significant portion of the mobile-payment market. Unlike Alibaba, another Chinese e-commerce company JD.com has developed its own distribution system to sell its own inventory and that of third parties. The intentional blurring of consumers’ digital activities has enabled these Chinese companies to develop innovative distribution and logistics systems.
Unfortunately, the rapid developments of ecommerce and innovative multi-channel business models in China have not been adequately documented and studied in Western literature. Accordingly, this special issue intends to address that gap with meaningful, cutting-edge articles that highlight distribution and logistics innovations in China. A better understanding of these phenomena will be helpful for the growth of Chinese companies and will provide critical ideas and prescriptions for practitioners and scholars in other countries.
In line with IJPDLM’s long-time attention to logistics topics in China (Chen, 2015), we therefore cordially invite scholars, executives and academic/executive teams to submit articles to this special issue that describe and examine the latest, up-to-date thinking and practices of leading e-commerce firms in China. In addition to descriptive case studies, we encourage different types of articles. Thus conceptual, qualitative, and quantitative methods are all welcome. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
Innovative distribution and logistics models and processes
Case studies on omni-channel or multi-channel logistics and distribution innovations
Demand chain management and demand-supply integration in e-commerce and multi-channel contexts
Customer service interfaces and challenges in e-commerce and multi-channel contexts
Logistics and distribution network design in e-commerce and multi-channel contexts
Tracking, tracing and transparency in e-commerce and multi-channel contexts
Logistics and distribution analytics and big data analytics in e-commerce and multi-channel contexts
Sustainability considerations in e-commerce and multi-channel contexts
Returns management considerations in e-commerce and multi-channel contexts
Benchmarking and performance measurement in in e-commerce and multi-channel contexts
Supply chain risk management in e-commerce and multi-channel contexts
Manuscripts should be prepared following the normal author guidelines for International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management and may be submitted through the journal's online system. Details on how to submit and author guidelines can be found at: http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/products/journals/author_guidelines.htm?id=ijpdlm
Special Issue papers are due by 31 August, 2018, but can be submitted as soon as possible (please ensure you check the Logistics and Distribution Innovation in Chins special issue option). Publication is anticipated in 2019.
All submitted papers deemed topically appropriate will undergo an expedited International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management review process. For questions about the appropriateness of topics, please contact any of the Guest Editors below.
Guest Editors:
Baofeng Huo (Zhejiang University), baofeng@zju.edu.cn
Haozhe Chen (Iowa State University), hzchen@iastate.edu
Henry Jin (Miami University), jiny3@miamioh.edu
特邀编辑：
Baofeng Huo（浙江大学），Haozhe Chen（爱荷华州立大学），Henry Jin （迈阿密大学）
许多人可能没有意识到中国已经成为物流和分销创新的沃土。蓬勃发展的电子商务是这种发展的动力。中国日报最近报道称，2017年中国的在线销售额将接近1万亿美元，几乎相当于美国和英国的总和（Zhang，2017）。尽管已经是全球最大的电子商务市场，高盛预计中国在线零售总额的比例将继续上升，到2020年将达到31％（经济学人，2017）。除了中国电子商务的庞大规模之外，这一趋势还凸显了中国消费者行为的变化。据估计，中国大城市中约80％的成年人已经在网上购物。根据statista.com的统计，2016年，约63.4％的中国手机在线用户正在使用他们的手机在线购物。这就是为什么“经济学人”认为中国的电子商务正在“席卷全球”。
许多中国公司热情地拥抱瞬息万变的市场。许多中国领先的企业不是被动地对市场状况做出反应，而是通过创建新的商业模式和流程来采取措施。这些新的商业模式重点在于设计创新的方式来吸引消费者，从根本上改变消费者的消费方式，支付他们的产品并通过物流交付。因此，中国电子商务巨头正在涌现。阿里巴巴正在领导这一转变。“经济学人”认为，阿里巴巴应该被视为亚马逊，Twitter，eBay和PayPal的组合，但更广泛。另一家领先的公司是腾讯，它开始拓展在线游戏和信息的相关业务，通过占领大部分移动支付市场，成为阿里巴巴的主要竞争对手。与阿里巴巴不同，另一家中国电子商务公司京东已经开发了自己的分销系统来出售自己的库存和第三方库存。对消费者数字活动的有意模糊使这些中国公司能够开发创新的分销和物流系统。
不幸的是，中国电子商务和创新型多渠道商业模式的迅速发展在西方文献中尚未得到充分记载和研究。因此，这一特刊旨在通过有意义的，顶尖的文章来突出中国的分销和物流创新。更好地了解这些现象将有助于中国企业的发展，并将为其他国家的实践者和学者提供重要的观点和指导。
与IJPDLM对中国物流主题的长期关注相一致（Chen，2015），我们诚挚地邀请学者，管理人员和学术/管理团队为本期特刊提交文章，描述和研究最新的，最新的中国领先的电子商务公司的思考和实践。除了描述性案例研究之外，我们还鼓励不同类型的文章。因此，概念，定性和定量方法都是受欢迎的。
潜在的主题包括但不限于：
·创新的分销、物流模式及流程
·关于全渠道或多渠道物流和分销创新的案例研究
·电子商务和多渠道环境下的需求链管理和需求-供应一体化
·电子商务和多渠道环境中的客户服务界面和挑战
·电子商务和多渠道环境下的物流和分销网络设计
·电子商务和多渠道环境中的追踪，追查和透明度
·电子商务和多渠道环境下的物流和分销分析以及大数据分析
·电子商务和多渠道环境下的可持续性考虑因素
·电子商务和多渠道环境下的退货管理
·电子商务和多渠道环境中的标杆管理和绩效评估
·电子商务和多渠道环境中的供应链风险管理
初稿应按照IJPDLM期刊的作者指导原则编写，并可通过期刊在线系统提交。有关如何提交和编写指南的详细信息，请访问：
http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/products/journals/author_guidelines.htm?id=ijpdlm
特刊论文需要于2018年8月31日前提交，但可尽快提交（请确保您选择了“中国物流与分销创新特刊”选项）。预计2019年出版。
所有提交的被认为合适的论文都将接受加快的IJPDLM期刊审稿流程。有关主题是否恰当的问题，可联系以下任何一位特邀编辑。
Baofeng Huo（浙江大学），baofeng@zju.edu.cn
Haozhe Chen（爱荷华州立大学），hzchen@iastate.edu
Henry Jin（迈阿密大学），jiny3@miamioh.edu