Package lockboxes have started becoming immensely popular over the past few years. Lockers for packages have now become a necessity, with an increasing number of consumers buying products online. With the skyrocketing of online purchases, there has been a simultaneous increase in deliveries to university, commercial, and multifamily properties.
For instance, it has been estimated that around 39 percent of the homeowners in the United States gets a parcel at least once in every month. Plus, worldwide e-commerce sales could reach a value of $4.5 trillion by next year.
People are so short of time today that they require a secure, simple, and fast mechanism for managing the increasing volume of incoming deliveries. On the other hand, sophisticated renters today expect and demand that their apartment should be equipped with technically advanced facilities so that the process of online ordering and dispatch can become seamless.
It is true that most customers today still prefer their packages to be delivered at their office or home addresses. Simultaneously, even alternate delivery options are catching up fast because of the lacunas in the conventional delivery methodologies irrespective of the continent where parcel deliveries are made.
For instance, home delivery, especially COD or cash-on-delivery, is still the most popular means of payment in India, particularly in the outskirts and smaller towns. However, parcel lockers have started emerging as a unique choice for online retailers and customers. Let us now see what parcel lockers are and how they are important, particularly in the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
There are various reasons for online retailers and customers to seek more cost-effective, convenient, and efficient choices. A package mailbox has successfully offered such a solution. Also, it can reduce the instances of a stolen package.
What is the significance of packages being delivered to a smart locker or a parcel locker?
After the concerned package was scanned correctly, a parcel locker's delivery means that the parcel was placed in a metal or a plastic box, which is typically set up in the vicinity of the consumer's mailbox. The consumer will have access to a key left for him/her in that mailbox so that they can retrieve their packages.
The chances of package theft are reduced to a large extent as it is difficult to open the locker without the key. For instance, cases of stolen package amazon can be reduced to a great extent when you opt for your parcels being delivered to a package locker.
How does a package delivery lock box function?
It makes sense, particularly amid the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic for the online shopping sites to send the packages to smart lockers instead. Concerned consumers can collect them at any time of the day according to their convenience.
So, what is a parcel locker? It can be defined in its simplest form as a secure storage area from where a consumer can collect their packages within a stipulated period of time, for example, 48 hours.
Does Amazon offer the option to deliver your products to a package delivery locker apart from delivering them to your doorstep?
The e-commerce giant offers Amazon Locker, which is a self-service delivery option of your packages when you shop online from them. Customers of Amazon can choose ay locker location to get their products delivered. They can then get their ordered products by visiting that location and entering a unique code on the locker's touch screen.
Package thieves will have a tough time accessing these items when they do not have access to the unique code. Items delivered by the e-commerce giant are qualified to be delivered to one of its Amazon lockers. The privilege also includes all those marketplace products which are fulfilled by the company.
Marketplace items refer to unique products from Warehouse Deals or Amazon Merchants.
Summing up
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has made people realize how vulnerable they are. People are trying to take all kinds of precautionary measures to ensure that they do not contract this deadly virus. They are being advised to stay at home and follow social distancing norms.
Simultaneously, the lockdown rules have made purchasing essentials such as food items and groceries exceptionally tough, particularly when they have to step out of their homes to purchase supplies.
Several pharmacies, service providers dealing with food delivery, and grocery businesses have come up with innovative ways so that people can continue to order essential items without going out of their houses. They are trying to ensure contactless deliveries without consumers coming in contact with their delivery personnel.
A package locker for home is an effective measure to break the virus outbreak chain while also making sure that businesses dealing with essential commodities can run properly while ensuring all the required precautionary measures. Smart lockers can play an important role in ensuring contactless deliveries safely, hygienically, and effectively.