Are renters comfortable with allowing a community's staff to enter their apartments to deliver packages or perishable items when they're not at home? To a certain degree, yes.
In a past Stat of the Week, we looked at the package pile-up problem, with a focus on package lockers as a solution, and many renters said it was a much-desired amenity. When asked whether they'd allow on-site staff to deliver a package inside their units instead, the response was similarly positive.
As you can see in the chart below, every generation responding to our survey indicated they're more willing than not to allow this service. Overall, 48% of renters said yes, while a quarter were unsure and 27% said no.
Millennials led the way, with 51% accepting the idea and just 25% rejecting it outright. The next-most enthusiastic cohort was the Silent Generation, with 48% of those surveyed giving the green light and just a quarter holding up a stop sign.
But packages come in all shapes and sizes, and some contain perishable items. Some renters will order groceries to be delivered, such as the Fresh Direct service offered in New York, Philadelphia, and other Northeast markets, for instance. But would those renters allow on-site staff to deliver those perishable goods directly to their refrigerators if they weren't home?
The responses here were noticeably more mixed than with the garden-variety–package question, with 39% of renters overall saying yes and 36% saying no.
Here, again, we see a greater level of interest among millennials than any other generation, with 42% giving the thumbs-up to such a service, followed by 37% of Gen Xers. Members of the Silent Generation were most opposed, followed by baby boomers, as detailed in the chart below.
The full results of our groundbreaking survey, The Next-Gen Apartment: What Renters Want, done in conjunction with J Turner Research, will be unveiled at the Multifamily Executive Conference in September.
In the meantime, check out our previous Stats of the Week:
