Escape the package avalanche
with 24/7 contactless pickup.

The problem appears inescapable: A never-ending assault of packages is swamping your campus mail center and overwhelming your resources. Why? Because more and more students, faculty and administrators are ordering nearly everything they need online. Growing health concerns and safety protocols have only served to amplify this trend. Clothing, furniture, equipment, electronics, gifts and maybe even their next meal is arriving at your mail center—burying you in the process.

Recent statistics illustrate the situation: 

This means your mail center may need to accept, route, scan, alert and deliver thousands of additional inbound parcels every month. And, because health concerns are likely to stay top of mind for the near future, volume is likely to continue to increase as students make fewer purchases at brick and mortar stores.

The “avalanche effect” isn’t the only issue; expectations are also on the rise. Students and faculty want to receive their packages immediately. Mail centers are expected to handle the increased volume with speed and efficiency, despite no increase in space, staffing or resources. And although your mail center is under pressure to reduce costs, protecting the health of students, faculty and staff often involves additional expenses.

Aside from throwing up your hands in frustration, what else can your mail center do to mitigate the challenges and improve the situation? Embrace smart technology.

Keep students and administrators healthy and happy, as well as reduce the stress on your overworked mail center staff. It’s never been easier to make mailroom backlogs a thing of the past. It’s easy—if you deploy the right technology.

The combination of self-service pickup along with inbound tracking software has proven to help campus mail centers deliver packages with speed and precision. Automated inbound tracking reduces the risk of lost or misplaced packages. It eliminates time-wasting manual logins as each arriving package is scanned to capture all package and recipient data for tracking. Then the automated system generates a notice to the recipient to pick up their package at the assigned location. There’s no need for recipient to rush to the mail center during operating hours since self-service contactless pickup is available 24/7. Students, faculty and staff can retrieve items securely at any hour, any day of the week, while maintaining social distance.

Recipients receive a one-time, secure PIN or barcode that opens the locker. Letters and packages remain inside the locker until retrieved by the intended recipient. After the package is picked up, the locker is free to be used for another package, for another recipient. Every aspect of delivery and pickup is automatically tracked.

Self-service pickup won’t just let you keep up with demand, you’ll have the power to re-assign resources and reduce the number of unhappy students wondering where their packages went or complaining that they cannot get to the mail center during hours of operation.

Meeting the demands of a 24/7 college lifestyle, self-service pickup frees up space in a confined mailroom, provides secure, contactless delivery and improves the package pickup experience. You’ll be able to manage packages of multiple shapes and sizes with ease. Self-service pickup and inbound tracking software are making a difference on campuses nationwide.

Package volume is already causing significant problems for nearly a third of colleges and universities,*** and is projected to increase by almost 15% annually through 2024.** Clearly there is a need for a simple and cost-effective way to improve the on-campus mail experience. Pitney Bowes has solutions that can help streamline and improve sending and receiving on your campus. Learn how automated inbound tracking plus self-service pickup can help you escape the fast-growing package avalanche with ease.

Sources:

*Deloitte
**Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index
***Pitney Bowes/University Business research