Faced with uncertain times, multifamily residents are spending more time at home. To minimize their in-store shopping trips, many consumers are buying the bulk of their food, household essentials, and other supplies online. 

This is evident by the fact that, as of April 21, e-commerce orders have experienced a 129% year-over-year growth in North America. And UPS delivered 19% more business-to-consumer packages during the first quarter of this year than it did during the same quarter last year. That’s a flood of packages that rivals the holiday shopping season, all heading to doorsteps and multifamily mailrooms. 

The problem is, the contact required to sign for, sort, and distribute potentially contaminated packages can make it difficult for property managers to ensure the health and safety of their residents and employees. And these times certainly call for a higher level of caution.

Here are a few ways to protect those who live and work at your properties by promoting contactless delivery. 

Implement safety practices for handling packages

Property employees who are responsible for managing packages may need to take certain precautions to avoid coming into contact with pathogen carriers and contaminated surfaces. These practices may include:

• Asking staff to use personal protective equipment
• Preventing direct contact with delivery personnel 
• Holding packages in a secure location to render any surface pathogens inactive 

It’s important that residents are aware of these new procedures and what their role is in keeping themselves and others safe, whether they’re receiving deliveries at their doors or picking them up from the mailroom. Property managers may need to advise actions for residents to take upon receiving their items — such as washing their hands after opening boxes, cleaning any surfaces those packages touch, and safely disposing of packaging.  

Eliminate crowds at pickup/dropoff locations

If deliveries end up in lobbies, mailrooms, or other common areas, finding ways to prevent residents from congregating in these locations is critical. 

Building managers may choose to switch to door-to-door deliveries. While this solution creates more work for either property staff or couriers, it will eliminate the risk of tenants grouping in pickup areas. 

It may also be possible to break tenants into small groups and designate pickup times for each group. This way, though there may still be multiple people picking up packages at the same time, their numbers will be fewer and the risk of spreading diseases will be lower. 

Install smart package lockers

For a fully contactless solution to package delivery, look no further than smart package lockers. Smart lockers automate the delivery process and successfully complete the chain of custody with little to no human interaction. 

Here’s how easy it is:

• Couriers or mailroom employees deposit packages in the lockers. 
• Deliveries stay separate from each other while secured inside the lockers, so there’s no contagion transmission between packages.
• Recipients can use their personal smartphones to access their packages — they don’t have to touch the kiosk and risk picking up pathogens. 

Interested in how smart lockers help with contactless delivery? Contact us to learn more.