Three types of organisations that could benefit most from parcel lockers
With the continuing rise in ecommerce and the general ease with which items can be sent and received by mail and by courier, organisations are having to manage ever growing quantities of parcels. Relying on manual processes to log, store and distribute packages piles pressure on already stretched admin and facilities departments, leading to delays, errors and lost items. Overall, this can cause a damaging impact to the organisation, leaving inconvenienced parcel recipients feeling frustrated and annoyed.
Broadly speaking, organisations or sites with large numbers of people on-site each day can expect to receive the highest volumes of parcels. However, some organisations with individuals who order large numbers of parcels, or sites with a high degree of flexibility or unpredictability with regards to when people will be physically present to collect parcels, will also face significant management challenges.
Designed to help alleviate these challenges, electronic locker systems enable organisations to securely store and distribute large volumes of inbound parcels. They enable parcel tracking and can facilitate, among other things, 24/7 pickup. Here’s three types of organisation that could benefit most from using them.
Universities
Universities, especially those with managed halls of residence, can be home to thousands of students who between them will be generating a daily influx of parcel deliveries. Typically, incoming mail will be distributed from, or held at, a central on-site post room. One-to-one delivery of individual items would be an extremely resource intensive process, so often parcels will be held – in limited physical space – with collection restricted to set opening hours. With parcel lockers in place, students and staff have much more freedom over the collection of their deliveries.
Managed and Non-Managed residential properties
Although managed residential properties, like blocks of flats or gated communities, may not have residents running into the thousands, there is every likelihood that those residents will be ordering high-value items to their home addresses. For facilities managers and concierge staff, securing mail for residents is therefore extremely important. The reinforced construction of a parcel locker system can provide peace of mind to residents and managing agents. Plus, it goes without saying, if residents feel that they can safely have items delivered to an on-site locker, rather than have the inconvenience of picking it up from a sorting office, their satisfaction with the managing company will be increased. For non-managed residential buildings, utilising parcel lockers means that parcels are not left unattended in communal areas and couriers are provided with limited physical access, reducing a whole range of security and safety risks.
Multi-tenant office locations
In addition to the secure and convenient transfer of employees’ personal deliveries, office locations will also be receiving important business-related items. As a result, delays while incoming items are sorted, recipients notified and finally retrieved and handed over, can have a material impact on operations. With rapid, automated electronic notifications, the whole process is made more streamlined and efficient, reducing the chances of any unnecessary impact on resident businesses.
For more information on parcel lockers and what they can do, visit our dedicated page here, which includes more details on functionality and features, as well as case study examples.