5 myths and some truths about holiday deliveries at work

Personal package delivery is a workplace experience that everyone wants, but no one thinks about — until workers find out their employers don’t allow it. These days, Black Friday is extended all the way through Cyber Monday, and your employees are looking to score an amazing deal online. Then, to save time as well as money, they have it delivered at work. Some companies are strictly against this practice. “It takes up too much space in the mailroom!” some facility managers might argue. “All those boxes put too much stress on our shipping team!”

The people in the warehouses and mailrooms throughout the world know what they’re talking about. After all, they saw what happened in July during Amazon’s Prime Day. But the arguments in favor of shipping deliveries to work are pretty compelling. There are some excellent reasons everyone wants their packages delivered to work, and that service goes a long way toward high employee satisfaction scores.

But it doesn’t have to be a shipping apocalypse every holiday season. Mailroom management software is workplace technology that can make everyone happy — from the shopper to the shipper.

Why do employees get packages delivered to work? To avoid porch package theft

Open up any neighborhood watch site like Nextdoor or Ring, and you’ll see two words pop out repeatedly: porch pirates. They strike in broad daylight despite the high likelihood that they’re being recorded on video. In a flash, someone has stolen the package you had delivered to your doorstep because they know that no one’s at home during the day. Way to ruin Christmas, Mr. Grinch.

According to an article in USA Today, more than 30% of Americans reported having packages stolen in 2018. Since online sales accounted for over $6 billion during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday period last year, the amount of money people lost due to stolen packages is staggering. Receiving orders at work is so much safer. Creating a secure delivery option for employee packages and for your business deliveries is an area of workplace experience worth investing in, because it brings everyone more peace of mind.

Still, some companies are dubious. Let’s take a look at the myths and realities of workplace technology to manage personal package delivery at work in time for the winter gift-giving season.

Myth #1: If employees get packages at work, that means they’re shopping on company time.

Reality: Eh, maybe, but there’s nothing that suggests a correlation. More than likely, employees are having packages delivered to work so they don’t fall victim to package theft or to avoid having gift recipients discover their surprise too early.

Myth #2: With the uptick of boxes arriving in the mailroom at the holiday season, we’ll need to hire more staff!

Reality: Not true anymore. Mailroom software lets mailroom workers scan a barcode on each box with a smartphone. The software takes care of intake and notifying the employee automatically — so there’s no extra work or time required.

Myth #3: Successful business don’t allow employees to use company property for personal purposes.

Reality: And vice-versa, right? In the past ten years, movements like BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) and BYOA (Bring Your Own App) and other workplace technology have blurred the boundaries of who gets access to tech in the office. Companies that are dedicated to contributing to work-life balance understand that employees can’t be home to receive parcels, so they provide a way for employees to have deliveries shipped to work that alleviates that stress. Remember, seemingly small perks like this work to improve your workplace experience –– happy employees equals higher employee retention.

Myth #4: Most employees would rather not have packages shipped to work for privacy reasons.

Reality: A 2018 Swiss Post Solutions study showed that nearly 73% of employees have personal packages shipped to work. That figure alone explains the popularity of the practice. Employees might be sacrificing some of their privacy in favor of convenience. But at least they are guaranteed to get their orders without having to worry about theft or the need to leave work to accept a delivery. As Cubicle Therapy points out, one way to maintain personal privacy for deliveries is to request packaging that doesn’t expose the contents of the box.

Myth #5: Employees will forget to pick up packages and the mailroom will be in chaos.

Reality: There are always those few procrastinators, that’s true. In July 2019, around 54% of employees retrieved their Prime Day orders within two days. A good way to increase that number without adding staff or hours is to use delivery management software. This involves workplace technology like a digital sign-in app which automatically reminds employees to retrieve deliveries promptly and sign for them digitally. And receiving personnel need only to snap a picture of the label on the box—the software takes it from there.

Holiday forecast: It’s beginning to look a lot like Prime Day

Now that we’ve sorted out how delivery management software can help manage all the boxes, it’s time to look inside them. There’s another good reason employees want their packages delivered to them at work: there’s some good stuff coming our way this holiday season. Some shoppers start their holiday shopping during Amazon Prime Day in July. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are still the reigning monarchs, though, and many of the bargains you’ll see will be based on top sellers from July.

TechRadar made some early predictions about what might be hot trends this year. Because they focus on technology, they put Apple products on the top of the tree. iPhone 11, the new iPad, and especially AirPods will dominate, and expect to see older models at the lowest prices of the year. 4K TVs, Nintendo Switch, and PS4 bundles are going to be in a lot of boxes arriving at your company, too.

For the kids in your life, Amazon has released its Top 100 Toys list, though it doesn’t present them in numerical order, or by price. Expect that most, if not all of them, will be marked down for the weekend beginning November 29—so do your homework and find out what each item costs before the discount. That way, you’ll be able to (try) to stick to your budget and shopping list, and you’ll know if you truly got a good deal.

Prime Day lessons to take to the holidays

It’s not about whether you’ve been bad or good this year—if you’re running short of ideas, Amazon helpfully presents its Most Gifted list all year long. During Prime Day, Amazon’s number crunchers instituted what amounted to surge pricing. Amazon raised and lowered prices all day long in response to buying trends and what other online retailers were doing. Expect to see that again during Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and through the entire American Thanksgiving weekend.

One final word of caution: it’s not only package thieves who are after your hard-earned money at the holidays. The BBC reported last year that consumer group Which? learned that in some cases, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are not necessarily the best bargain days of the year. In fact, Which? discovered that only 90 out of the 178 deals they checked were cheapest on Black Friday. The key takeaway here is clear. Do your research. Know what you want and what you’re willing to spend. Be careful with shipping, and if you can, have your holiday treasures shipped to work, where a delivery management system can get them to you fast and efficiently. Happy bargain hunting!

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