As the need for online shopping grows as do expectations of customers. Customers expect to receive their purchase when they want it. It makes delivery an integral part of the complete e-commerce experience.
However, meeting this requirement isn’t easy, particularly when the recipient is in an apartment or condominium, or in university housing. Most customers don’t have homes at all times and their packages are put in the lobby to pickup. To prevent this from happening some recipients are able to have delivery of their parcels to the workplaces which can cause problems for their employers.
Parcel lockers provide a secure and efficient solution for condominium and apartment managers, universities, corporate and retailers facing these issues.
What are Parcel Lockers?
Parcel lockers can be described as an automated electronically controlled “click and pick up” system that secures packages to make it easy for consumers to retrieve them. They can elevate the experience for customers to a new level, and at the same time making it less risky for loss of packages, theft and delivery attempts.
Automated lockers for parcels offer the easiest, three-step method for retrieving packages:
- The package is handed over and placed in the locker for delivery. The recipient is notified of delivery either via text message or email.
- Also recipient enters a single PIN number at the station where they can lock their locker.
- Door opens to allow package retrieval.
Returning a package is as simple as:
- The receiver applies the return label to the package.
- Also label can be scanned by the locker’s station.
- The door to the lock opens, and the customer inserts the box inside.
Advantages of Parcel Lockers
Automated lockers for parcels offer a variety of advantages like:
- Access 24/7, convenient to pick up parcels.
- Also complete protection for delivery of packages and less risk of loss of packages.
- Full track and traceability for all shippers by keeping a log of every delivery and pickup 100 percent Chain of Custody.
- Electronic log record removes the requirement for signatures
- Consumers have the option of choosing either text or email notification to receive their locker’s password.
- Reduced costs for labor with the use of fewer internal resources to manage parcels as well as distribution and pick-up. The savings in labor could be enough to justify the expense for the program.
A Win-Win-Win for Building Management and Consumers
According to recent research conducted by Forrester Research Inc., U.S. online retail sales projected to grow By 334 billion dollars in 2015. This will increase and reach nearly $500 billion by the year 2019. Think about what this means in terms of the volume of packages which will have to deliver, ship and then pick up by the buyer. Consider the effect that this will having on the building management, companies and even retailers.
With more and more customers prefer shopping online, many condominium associations and managers of apartments have to contend. With the increasing quantity of packages delivered to their doorsteps. Packages need to sign and then handed over to the person who lives there. Or the resident needs to inform that the package is waiting to pick up. The building owners will also require more space for sorting the packages and keeping them in storage until collected. All this takes time and cost, especially in terms of labor costs.
Settings and features
Parcel lockers are able to arrange to suit the specific installation, and there are various sizes of lockers that are available. They can vary from 3.5 24 inches for the smallest locker, to 29×24 inches for the extra-large size.
Other options include an industrial touchscreen, camera and uninterruptible power supply barcode reader badge reader, the detection of tampering with alert and notification mechanism. The optional technology is surveillance and video monitoring and a receipt printer. siren label printer, and payment module.
Ending
With increasing numbers of customers prefer to send their items to their places of work. Also businesses also faced with managing the increased volume of mail. Mailrooms often provide packages to employees’ workspace or office. The higher volume of mail means longer time and expense to sort and deliver packages that have no connection to the company itself.
Retailers who have lockers for parcels in close proximity to or inside the brick and mortar shop can not only reap the benefits of allowing customers to collect their online orders on their own time and also benefit from an increase in pedestrian traffic when customers walk to the store to make more purchases.
One of the most significant advantages of lockers for parcels is the complete customer experience. Consumers are able to pick up their parcels whenever it’s suitable for them, without having to worry about the possibility of theft. The building owners and the companies that provide this service are offering an excellent service that is greatly appreciated by their clients as well as their employees.
In the end Automated parcel lockers improve customer satisfaction by offering the security and convenience for parcel deliveries.