The retail experience as we know it is changing. Thanks to the ever-expanding application of the internet, almost 10% of U.S. retail sales are now online. The growth curve of electronic retail, or e-retail, looks like it’s just getting started. 

Peter Hylton, a School of City and Regional Planning Ph.D. student, is exploring the existing and ideal geography for e-commerce retail distribution. He is focusing on the aspects of air operations and air cargo connectivity that attract e-commerce distribution centers to locate around specific airports.

His research has earned him the Graduate Research Award on Public-Sector Aviation, sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration of the United Stated Department of Transportation and administered by the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) of the Transportation Research Board.

"E-retailers have to deliver to customers fast and on short notice.  To do this, they are designing distribution networks that are totally different from traditional ‘brick-and-mortar’ retailers like Walmart and Best Buy," explains Hylton. "Retailers have always used trucks as one of their main shipment modes, but we are seeing e-retailers also turning to aviation’s speed and wide geographic coverage for many deliveries.  E-retailers are designing their distribution networks with airports at the physical and functional center, and Amazon’s recent decision to lease 11 plus dedicated jets is just one example.  E-retail matters for our regions because its huge growth potential gives it an equally large impact on air traffic, the jobs that come with fulfillment centers, and surrounding roads."

Hylton is studying how electronic retail (e-retail) is changing the geography of freight distribution. He is helping to build a nation-wide database of retail fulfillment centers, both for e-retail and brick-and-mortar retailers, as well as a database of airport characteristics and air cargo connectivity.  He and his colleagues want to see if e-retailers respond to these airport characteristics differently than brick-and-mortar retailers in building their distribution network.  Their findings will help transportation planners better predict airport volumes and road traffic around airports, while also showing local governments the levers to pull to attract logistics jobs to their region.

"It is thrilling to be selected for the Graduate Research Award on Public-Sector Aviation Issues," says Hylton.  "I was especially happy after seeing the breadth of companies and organizations represented on the selection panel because it validates our work.  If our proposal resonates with this many aviation experts, it shows broad commitment to explaining how e-retail is impacting the national transportation system.  I’m also personally very excited about this research.  Logistics and aviation are two of my enduring transportation interests.  Formatting the data, running the models, and interpreting the results will be a lot of hard work, but intriguing!"

Hylton works in the Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development here at Tech. Visit their website to learn more about him and their other research projects.