LOCALKOOL Digitises the UK High-Street: Supporting Local Retailers and the Environment

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COVID-19 considerably boosted e-commerce and home deliveries of goods, bringing growth for large retailers and smaller retailers with advanced digital capabilities. High-street businesses and small local retailers however suffered and are still suffering huge losses. Given that this behavioural shift will partially carry on after a COVID-19 vaccine is found, the outlook for SME retailers is bleak. Mass-scale home deliveries come with a significant carbon footprint, particularly in cities due to last mile delivery vehicles emitting not only gases harmful to the climate, but also to human health. According to several studies, air pollution is a factor that favours the spread of COVID-19\. We develop a SaaS platform to enable retailers to access a consolidated Ultra Low Emissions (ULE) last-mile logistics services supply. The platform automatically matches logistics providers with parcel delivery jobs to optimize speed and cost per geographical region, parcel type, distance and delivery job preferences. Stakeholders can access the platform through API, web and mobile interface. Consumers expecting a delivery can track its drivers' geolocation in real-time through an interactive map.