As traditional retail dies, an evolution is taking place in consumer shopping. No longer must buyers go to the store to get goods; rather, with the rapid growth of the Internet, the store has literally come to them.
This rapid change in purchasing behaviors means the package-delivery industry has grown exponentially and, with it, so has the volume of such deliveries to apartment properties nationwide. Just a few short years ago, managing an excess of packages meant the property management team had to endure some headaches during the busy holiday peak. Now, it can mean daily deluges of everything from clothes to toothpaste to furniture, and even groceries—in far larger numbers than the typical apartment mail room can handle.
And, as any property manager knows, the surge in package deliveries in the Internet Age can place a huge strain on staff, security, risk management, and resident satisfaction. Thankfully, new products and services are appearing that minimize both the risk and the resource drain associated with parcel delivery.
We talked with several property managers who've invested in some of these new solutions, to see which offerings provide the best benefit for the best value.
Zero Investment, Off-Site Management
Before Pinnacle's properties took all resident packages to a dedicated spot in the management office, managers were responsible for receiving the packages, alerting residents of their delivery, and coordinating the handoff, says Tom Klaess, regional vice president at the firm. The result was a lot of lost productivity among office staff.
Pinnacle's residents weren’t happy with the system either. They wanted to get their packages when it was convenient for them, not during office hours. The management team’s customer service rating suffered as a result. Meanwhile, packages were piling up at an ever-growing rate.
To solve the problem, Klaess and his team adopted DropSpot, an app residents can use to find local businesses near home or work where they can have packages delivered to pick up at their convenience. The businesses, which participate in the program to attract additional foot traffic, agree to receive packages and direct residents to their location via the free DropSpot app. Residents select the DropSpot business location to where their package should be shipped and are alerted when the delivery arrives there for pickup.
Klaess says feedback has been positive so far, from both employees and residents, at the five pilot properties where Pinnacle has tried the program. Property management staff say they have more time to focus on customer service as a result, and residents like DropSpot because they feel it gives them more control over when they can pick up packages.
“It’s a win-win,” Klaess says. “It’s a better solution for us and a no-risk opportunity. We'll look at data in two to three months, and then we’ll get feedback from everyone to see where else we can roll this out. Right now, it’s too new for us to give any indication.”
Steve Boyack, senior managing director at Greystar, also partnered with DropSpot, while he was at Laramar. He rolled out the program in a few Chicago properties as a cost-neutral solution.
Laramar also manages the 1,100-unit Fillmore Center in San Francisco, which had been fielding more than 200 resident packages daily.
“Office management spent two to three minutes per package on handling time,” Boyack recalls. “When that's multiplied times 200 per day, then factor in [a special promotion] like Amazon Prime Day—the property managers get crushed. Plus, about 40% of all packages go back. You have to add that volume in as well. … A distinct advantage of DropSpot will be package returns.”
Boyack anticipates that Laramar will see a 20% to 25% reduction in staff hours as a result of adopting DropSpot, though he notes that Laramar is probably six months away from being able to quantify that number.
Small Investment for Security and Convenience
Butterfly MX started as a front-entrance touchscreen intercom system, but, CEO Cyrus Claffey explains, packaging was a natural extension of the product.
Properties using Butterfly MX first assign a room to which packages are to be delivered. Whoever delivers the package is assigned a PIN to identify themselves and be allowed in to put the package on a shelf. Video cameras keep the room and packages secure, in addition to records that track who used what PIN and when they entered. Residents can scan themselves into the room at their convenience.
“The idea is to make the delivery person's workflow as easy and seamless as possible,” Claffey says. “While we've seen new developments use our solution as an overflow room for large deliveries when lockers are deployed, property managers are really excited to use it in retrofits where capital budgets are tight and there's typically not enough room to install locker systems.”
With an open room instead of lockers, there's also the potential to store a higher volume of items. Plus, the system can be adapted later to handle other types of deliveries, as well, such as adding a pole on which to hang dry cleaning or a refrigerator for temperature-sensitive packages.
Adam Jernow, founder of WayFinderPM, now uses Butterfly MX as a package solution after first putting the system in place for building-access control. Many tenants had become desensitized to the access buzzer and would grant anyone entry without checking who it was, which led to package theft. With its high-security features, Butterfly MX is reducing or eliminating that problem completely at WayFinderPM's properties.
“We were having some instances of theft, but this solution eliminates [that problem] and also makes tenants feel more secure about having an unattended lobby,” says Jernow. He chose a package management system “not to save time; just to reduce theft.”
With Butterfly MX in place, WayFinder staff no longer have to review online footage to track down stolen packages.
Tenants are happy too, because the packages are now conveniently secured in the lobby, meaning residents don’t have to track them down at a local retailer like other solutions offer. Plus, WayFinder has found, it’s a great way for property management to utilize small, otherwise unused space.
Locked Up
To handle her properties' package deliveries, Elli Lobach, senior vice president of development for Denver-based Grand Peaks Properties, uses Package Concierge. The program provides an apartment property with a number of electronic package locker systems, depending on the property's budget and need.
Prior to purchasing lockers, Grand Peaks experienced typical package-overload issues. Package volume was increasing on a weekly basis, with staff resources being monopolized by the task. Space was running out to store the items, and employees and residents were frustrated.
“We wanted to implement a package delivery system that would take the clutter out of the leasing office space, reduce the time burden on staff, and expand the pickup options for residents,” Lobach says. “We looked at several options for parcel locker systems and ultimately chose Package Concierge for a few reasons: They had the most flexibility around how to handle fees; their software system updates easily as our tenancy changes; and they had the best security features, such as a camera that takes photos as packages are checked out.”
Because the system is new and involves a lot of users, there are still some training issues to iron out. Large delivery companies use the same drivers for the same routes each day, so once they’re trained in the system they prefer it, Lobach says. However, in Denver, for example, Amazon uses Amazon Flex, a type of Uber-for-deliveries, which means different drivers work each day, requiring staff to train them in how to use Package Concierge.
Although Grand Peaks property management teams still spend time training residents and delivery crews, they spend less than they once did sorting and delivering packages, Lobach says. Plus, they're happy to have their space back.
Many options exist for managing packages, and managers we spoke with expect to see only increased package activity at their properties in the future, so investing in a system to handle the volume is almost mandatory. We’ll continue to track the best solutions and how effective they are. Stay tuned!
Package management solutions are just one aspect of the next generation of developments that Multifamily Executive is covering as part of the 2017 Concept Community. Read more here.
