We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
  • ::COVID-19 COVERAGE::
  • INDUSTRY PRESS ROOM
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • MEDIA FILE
  • Create Account
  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Free Newsletters
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC.
    • Podcast
    • Blogs
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Best Practices
      • Change Me
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Logistics Problem Solving
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Public Sector Logistics
      • Two Sides of the Logistics Coin
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2020
    • Upload Your Video
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC.
    • Podcast
    • Blogs
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Best Practices
      • Change Me
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Logistics Problem Solving
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Public Sector Logistics
      • Two Sides of the Logistics Coin
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2020
    • Upload Your Video
Home » Amazon rolls out lockers for parcel delivery to apartment dwellers
newsworthy

Amazon rolls out lockers for parcel delivery to apartment dwellers

June 21, 2018
Ben Ames
No Comments

E-commerce colossus Amazon.com Inc. said Tuesday it had begun installing parcel delivery lockers in apartment building lobbies across the country in an extension of its network of lockers in storefronts and Whole Foods Markets, saying the system will improve e-commerce access and security in urban environments.

This "Hub by Amazon" service is now available for installation across the U.S., offering apartment residents safe storage of packages, the firm said. To date, more than half a million residents now have access to the lockers, which have been installed in properties managed and owned by real estate firms such as AvalonBay, Fairfield Residential, Pinnacle, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, WinnResidential, and Equity Residential, according to Amazon.

The lockers work in a similar fashion to the banks of lockers that Seattle-based Amazon already offers in many cities through its "Pickup Points" program, where consumers can opt to have their packages delivered to centralized banks of lockers instead of to their homes. Those networks include lockers installed in urban storefronts and in many Whole Foods Markets locations, after Amazon bought the grocery chain in 2017 for $13.7 billion.

One difference from those previous installations is that the Hub lockers cannot yet handle shipments of returns by customers, although Amazon plans to add that feature in coming months, the company said.

In all cases, online shoppers access Amazon's lockers by selecting a nearby locker location as their delivery point—or in the case of the new Hub lockers, using their standard apartment address—and then retrieving their package by entering a security code sent to their computer or smartphone, Amazon said in a video.

Delivering e-commerce orders to lockers instead of individual homes can benefit customers by offering improved security to thwart theft by "porch pirates" and can benefit apartment managers by reducing the clutter of boxes stacked in busy lobbies, according to Amazon. "Building on Amazon's expertise in locker solutions, the Hub addresses frustrations from property owners, carriers, and residents concerning package delivery," Patrick Supanc, director of Amazon Worldwide Lockers and Pickup, said in a statement.

However, the policy could also generate significant business savings to Amazon itself by allowing parcel carriers to reach more customers in each trip, said Jeff Smith, a professor of Supply Chain Management and Analytics at Virginia Commonwealth University. "Amazon and the associated delivery person will save immense amounts of time and energy, as it will enable a single drop point which will allow the delivery person to service each one of those locations in a much more efficient manner," Smith said in an email. "This will cut time in delivery so an individual delivery person could, in theory, make more stops in the same amount of time."

Installing lockers in apartment lobbies is an extension of similar strategies for improving the efficiency of mail delivery, such as the banks of common mailboxes often used by the U.S. Postal Service installed in neighborhoods with dead-end streets, Smith said.

In other examples, UPS Inc. has installed hundreds of self-service parcel lockers around the U.S., following a successful pilot program in Chicago, and vendors like the parcel-fulfillment firm Bell and Howell LLC are marketing "intelligent" lockers for consumer parcel deliveries.

Last Mile
KEYWORDS Amazon.com
  • Related Articles

    UPS tests smart locks for parcel delivery to apartment lobbies

    Amazon orders 20,000 Mercedes-Benz vans for parcel delivery program

    Amazon enters next phase of logistics build-out with delivery partner program

  • Related Events

    Project:Future / Grocery - Taking the Fear out of Central Distribution

    Enabling Next-Day Delivery with Warehouse Automation

Benames
Ben Ames has spent 20 years as a journalist since starting out as a daily newspaper reporter in Pennsylvania in 1995. From 1999 forward, he has focused on business and technology reporting for a number of trade journals, beginning when he joined Design News and Modern Materials Handling magazines. Ames is author of the trail guide "Hiking Massachusetts" and is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism.

Recent Articles by Ben Ames

Project44 acquires German ocean freight tracking firm

Amazon licenses walk-through store technology to retailers

Conveyor company fought time and weather to open new factory

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Most Popular Articles

  • IBM survey says digitalization trends will sweep trucking industry by 2030

  • Gartner survey signals increased investment in resilience over the next two years

  • What Level of Automation is Right for Your Warehouse?

  • Growing up … and up and up: interview with Sam Bertram

  • Old Dominion adds nine freight service centers to handle business growth

Now Playing on DCV-TV

D92f0dd1 a98c 434a 9e17 30b63ee72c90

Automated Pack-out and Print-Apply System for thredUP

DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
SilMan Industries designed and implemented a mixed polybag-carton system, including automated print and apply, in a new regional Fulfillment Center for thredUP, one of the world’s largest online resale platforms for women’s and kids’ apparel, shoes, and accessories.The Situation Secondhand clothing and online...

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • Using innovation to manage peak seasonal demand

  • Time to rethink your lift truck power

  • Warehouse Management System Project Toolkit

  • Solving Talent Management Challenges Now and In the Future

View More

Subscribe to DC Velocity Magazine

GET YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSLETTERS
  • ADVERTISING
  • CUSTOMER CARE
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
  • STAFF
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright ©2021. All Rights ReservedDesign, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing