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Is Your Company Prepared For Increased Package Delivery?

4 Min Read

Written by: Parcel Pending

In 2018, e-commerce sales estimated to about $517 billion according to the U.S. Commerce Department. Five years ago, in 2014, that number was just below $300 billion. E-commerce is rising steadily in popularity each year. You can tell by the public’s lexicon—‘shopping’ is synonymous with sitting at your computer scrolling through company websites.

With the rise of e-commerce has come profitable opportunities, and inevitably, unforeseen consequences—one of which is of particular interest to those who order packages to their home address. A growing alarm is circulating over the number of packages stolen off people’s front porches. They call these thieves Porch Pirates, and their mischievous deeds have left businesses reeling from refund demands and requests for new parcel delivery options.

Enter the newest norm—shopping online and delivering to the office. The majority of packages are delivered during business hours on a weekday, so it makes sense to ship them all directly to the workplace. Now, however, office managers and front desk associates are being overwhelmed by the sheer number of deliveries per day given that there’s no place to put them like commercial lockers. If your business is currently struggling with increasing package delivery demand, you know how much time is being wasted, and you need a solution yesterday.

The Rise of Porch Pirates

There is no neighborhood safe, especially around the holiday season, from these porch pirates. Packages are going missing from San Francisco to Springfield, Massachusetts, and it seems like there’s only one viable solution.

Of course, a secondary option is to have your package shipped to your work address instead.

Pressure Placed on the Office

As more packages enter the workplace, offices are reeling from the decreased productivity that comes with sorting and distributing mail. None of the typical options seem feasible.

  • Hire a mail clerk – Offices used to have mailrooms and an entire parcel delivery system. But hiring an employee just to deal with this crisis is probably too pricey—think monthly wages, benefits, etc.
  • Put the responsibility on one employee – Often, the front desk associate is the one tasked with the delivery of these packages. Although if your company has more than twenty employees, you’re undoubtedly aware of the number of packages delivered each day. The constant back and forth between the front desk and delivering the packages would mean saying goodbye to hours of a workday. Better than hiring a mail clerk, but again, not practical.
  • Disallow shipping to work address – If you want a surefire way of increasing resentment around an office, you could disallow using the workplace as a delivery address for personal orders. It would solve the issue of increasing package delivery, but at what cost.

15% More Pressure Each Year

Perhaps right now the number of packages you’re receiving isn’t out of hand. It’s dealt with slightly inefficiently, but at the end of the day, it’s not overwhelming. If you’re currently in this bucket, then consider how your office would fair with 15% more packages being delivered. How about 30%? 45%?

Considering that e-commerce is growing around 15% each year, that means there’s 15% more shipments going out, 15% more deliveries to the office, and 15% more pressure put on office managers each year. To ensure that your company is prepared for increased package delivery, you’re going to need a permanent, affordable solution for all of the orders shipped to the office.

Smart Lockers: The Smart Option

Instead of having the responsibility fall on a single person, you can turn to new technology in the workplace. By installing smart lockers into your workspace, it will automate the assorting and delivery process. The benefits far exceed the burden of dealing with mail:

  • Secured Storage – Because packages are being shipped to and kept in a safe, secure location, employees won’t have to grab their deliveries immediately. They can leave them in the lockers until the end of the workday and pick them up on their way out. 
  • Shared Location – Smart lockers can be shared with neighboring businesses, reducing the cost of the installment.
  • Anti-Porch-Pirate Guarantee – By providing a safe location for deliveries, the complaints of package theft will be no more.
  • Happy Employees – Offering your employees the option of an at-work shipping address,  where they can ship a personal online order to, shows that you are investing in them as individuals. It’s an appreciated effort and an innovative employee perk.

Parcel Pending Has Your Back

When considering installing smart lockers as a way to help manage an office, you’ll want to make sure it’s customized to fit your needs. That’s why Parcel Pending offers smart lockers that are customizable and easy to use:

  • Smartphone accessibility to your packages
  • Choose the color, size, and design of the lockers
  • Compatible with any parcel delivery service

Don’t Let The Porch Pirates Win

The number of packages delivered directly to people is increasing year by year. Don’t let porch pirates win. Allow your office to be a secure, accessible shipping address to deliver all your e-commerce products. Installing smart lockers is a simple way to take the stress off your employees’ shoulders and to increase productivity in the office.

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