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Are managed properties prepared for parcel deliveries this holiday season?
4 Min Read
Written by: pdm
According to a report recently published by the think tank Centre for London looking at how to make London’s deliveries greener and smarter, the continuing growth in demand for delivery cannot be sustained in the current way. Deliveries need to be made greener and more efficient. It is an aim that owner-operators of residential properties will be familiar with. Increasing parcel volumes, together with pressure on staff managing deliveries and space constraints, highlight the importance of simple and convenient residential parcel solutions.
Online shopping and home delivery
In 2020, the UK was in lockdown for the majority of the holiday season, including on Black Friday. This meant that in the run-up to Christmas, retail stores considered to be non-essential were shut. However, this year it is highly unlikely that this will be the case. Despite this, a recent survey conducted by Quadient found that half of all respondents will do most of their shopping for Black Friday and Christmas online this year, compared to 21 per cent who anticipate doing the bulk of their holiday season shopping in-store.
What’s more, for those individuals shopping online, home delivery remains the most popular option. In fact, its popularity has slightly increased this year, with 33 per cent of survey participants opting for it, compared to 32 per cent in 2020. For tenants in residential properties, that means having parcels delivered and received conveniently and securely at home will be vital. As such, multi-tenant buildings that provide residents with convenient parcel deliveries will offer the best experience.
A hassle-free experience?
Unfortunately, shopping online far from guarantees a hassle-free experience, according to our survey. Over a third (34 per cent) of respondents expect to miss a delivery to home or work that will require re-delivery attempts or a depot collection, while 45 per cent of individuals surveyed have missed a delivery to either their home or place of work this year. With half of our survey respondents intending to do their shopping online this holiday season, as well as a number of participants missing deliveries to their homes, it’s now more important than ever to get first time deliveries right.
Improving the delivery experience
So long as it is tackled in an appropriate manner, home delivery is a simple, convenient, cost-effective way for those shopping online to take delivery of their items. However, waiting all day for a delivery to arrive, or missing the courier when they call, can defeat the convenience of shopping online in the first place.
Delivering items to multi-tenant residential buildings should provide a seamless delivery experience. This may not be the case if a customer is not at home to receive their goods at a certain time. Then, the items may need to be re-delivered, which is less than ideal for recipients and delivery drivers too, not to mention the environmental impact this causes.
Instead, intelligent parcel lockers can streamline the delivery process while improving the security of parcel deliveries. A concerning one-quarter (25 per cent) of individuals we surveyed stated that they have had a parcel lost or stolen this year. Parcel lockers eradicate this issue as when a customer’s order is ready, they are automatically notified by email, or other electronic means, and receive a unique PIN and barcode. They pop along to parcel lockers at their building and put in the code or scan the barcode to open the single locker assigned to their delivery. It’s a secure way for them to take delivery of their items and means recipients do not need to be at home when their parcel arrives, easing the burden of multiple delivery attempts that negatively impact the environment.
Therefore, it is unsurprising that the most popular reason for using lockers, cited by respondents who use parcel lockers in our survey, was convenience (28 per cent). Just over one fifth (21 per cent) stated it was down to lockers being available 24/7, while 18 per cent cited security reasons as to why they use lockers.
As the Black Friday and holiday season shopping begins, it’s now more important than ever for managed properties to ensure they get first time deliveries right, as many customers are intending to shop online. For build-to-rent properties and multi-tenant buildings, the issue of incoming parcel management is particularly apparent, with managers, agents and tenants all wanting to reduce the build-up of parcels in communal areas and ensure tenants can take delivery of their items with reduced contact.
Parcel lockers help overcome issues faced by residents receiving deliveries at home and can help managed properties minimise operational costs and improve resident satisfaction.
