Why Smartlockers Alone Won't Fix Your Apartment's Package Problem

Smartlockers have become the go-to solution for managing packages in large apartment buildings. After making the initial investment to install the lockers, property managers pay a nominal monthly subscription for the technology that notifies tenants when packages arrive and generates codes to open the smartlockers. The smartlocker solution works perfectly as long as the carrier properly loads each package into a locker. But therein lies the problems, carriers aren’t taking the time to load in packages. They tend to just leave them scattered throughout the mailroom.

You can’t blame the carriers. Their job is to deliver packages to the apartment, not to load them into your locker system. Loading in a package takes several steps. First, the carrier has to find the tenant in the kiosk by typing in their name. Step two requires the carrier to get a snapshot of the label.Then they pick a locker size and load in the package. Now imagine doing this for dozens of packages. The carrier isn’t compensated for any of this additional work, nor are they obligated to do so. People tend to take the path of least resistance, and in this case that means leaving packages right outside of the smartlockers. 

Property managers believe that smartlockers are a complete solution, but in reality, they’re only a part of the solution. Loading in packages takes time, and time takes money. The locker investment was intended to eliminate the need to hire a concierge but that's not the case. Time and time again, property managers need to hire personnel to fix their apartment’s package problem. 

Here’s where Schleps Package Hub slides in to save the day. We provide smartlockers but we also handle the fulfillment side, too. Packages are delivered to one of our package hubs, and then we’ll load them into the Schleps lockers at your apartment. We provide the hardware (lockers), software (package app), and people necessary to fix your apartment’s package problem once and for all.