IOWA CITY, Iowa (Iowa’s News Now) — Local stores are struggling to keep up with online giants like Amazon, especially when it comes to deliveries. Now, researchers at the University of Iowa are studying a new idea that could help level the playing field.
Imagine checking out at a store and being asked to drop off someone else’s package on your way home. Researchers call the idea “crowdshipping,” and they say it could make local deliveries faster and easier.
“Here’s an opportunity for local stores perhaps to be able to compete with a large warehouse like Amazon,” said Jeff Ohlmann, associate professor of business analytics at the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business…