Consumers Turn To Package Lockers To Combat Porch Pirates

With home security firm Ring reporting that nearly one in five homeowners in the U.S. have experienced package theft in the last year, companies like Sacramento, California-based package delivery locker system Luxer One are setting up package delivery systems to prevent porch pirates, CNBC reported Monday (Dec. 18).

With the rise in eCommerce and online spending in 2017, most shipping and logistics firms are expecting record delivery numbers, and Adobe Analytics is predicting the first $100 billion online shopping season.

As a result, self-service package delivery lockers are helping prevent theft of delivered packages. Customers are sent a password to enter the locker and retrieve their orders once delivered. In fact, services like Luxer One can be set up in apartment complexes, offices and retails firms, helping recipients ensure their shipped gifts and goods are not lost, rerouted or stolen.

“The biggest challenge with package delivery is getting the goods into the hands of the recipient,” said Arik Levy, Luxer One CEO.

The company saw an 83 percent rise in package delivery volume between the week before and the one immediately following the Black Friday shopping weekend. It works with more than 1,200 apartments communities in the U.S., and offers a service like Amazon’s delivery lockers. Amazon, for its part, is looking to expand its own locker program to reach more shoppers.

In the month of November alone, Luxer One saw a 44 percent increase in package delivery volume and added an oversized locker to catch overflow. The oversized locker has seen a 112 percent jump in deliveries since Thanksgiving. Recipients are not only receiving packages more quickly, thanks to two-day shipping and other promotions, but picking them up 43 percent faster, too.

In addition to Amazon’s lockers at shopping centers, malls, Whole Foods locations, convenience stores and fitness centers — and Luxer One’s delivery centers in luxury apartments, office buildings and retail centers — FedEx is encouraging package delivery to Walgreens Boots Alliance and other hold locations like Albertsons and Kroger, saving the company time and money by keeping drivers from stopping door to door. UPS launched a similar program in 2014 with its Access Point network of pickup locations at dry cleaners, grocers and retailers.

Luxer One has plans to expand its services in the coming months.

“In 2018 you will start to see this everywhere,” Levy explained. “We’ll start to expand into smaller buildings … lockers can go anywhere.”