Battling the Porch Pirates

Sad to say, the e-commerce sea is besieged by porch pirates…that are trying to make sure that the electronic gadgets, tools, and equipment that consumers order never make it to home port.  I have been robbed by these rascals even here.

We are located in a multi-tenant building and our shipments get lost and delayed.  And we are not alone. Part of the mix is a new level of thieves dubbed porch pirates, who some amateur sleuths have even caught red-handed on camera.

These modern-day pirates look for boxes, hopefully filled with expensive electronics or other items, to steal from people’s porches.  E-tailers are doing their best to respond. Amazon has introduced the Amazon Photo on Delivery, in which a photo may be taken of an item sitting in the porch after it is delivered. The photo shows up if you track your order. UPS and the United States Post Office haven’t started doing this yet, but it will come.

Many people have attempted to solve this problem. One Atlanta entrepreneur has come up with a lock called BoxLock.  The idea is that the receiving customer puts the tracking number of the expected package into the lock and then the delivery person scans the box which then opens it so the shipment can be locked inside. A house master key allows you to open the box when you get home. It’s a good idea, but I think it still has some kinks to be worked out. First, the lock is battery powered so it needs to be charged and might run out of power. The other reality is that the porch pirate probably could steal the entire box (although it would make it less inviting). Perhaps the box should have a wall mount.

I think that Amazon’s locker service is another powerful option that other retailers might imitate. This provides access to packages any time and the end user can pick up an item using a code. I’ve used this often and it’s easy to say you are ready to pick up a package and get the code sent to you. The code is active for 15 minutes and seamlessly updates the tracking information.  Some retailers are thinking outside the box. Kohl’s department store, for example, lets customers drop off return merchandize at their local Kroger’s grocery store at this type of locker. These markets are open for much of the day, from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. at my local shop, for example. It’s a place that many people go often anyway. It keeps merchandise safe and makes returns convenient.  They could reverse this process and make ways for customers to pick up deliveries.

So, what challenges is your company having with last mile logistics? What might solve them? Are you fighting the war of the porch pirate? Let us know in the comments section below.

15
Jul 2019
By Puga Sankara281 Comments
Author:
Puga Sankara
About:
Puga Sankara is the Founder, CEO of Smart Gladiator LLC. Smart Gladiator designs, builds, and delivers market-leading mobile technology for retailers, distributors, and 3PL service providers. So far, Smart Gladiator LoadProof has been used to ship, receive, and scan more than 100 million boxes. SG LoadProof is a patent pending Centralized Enterprise Photo/Video Document System on Cloud for Supply Chain. SG LP is built on the fact that photos & videos are vital docs as important as POs/SOs/Legal Contracts/Fulfillment Orders that reside in ERP/WMS/TMS systems, that serve as compelling, conclusive, unequivocal proof of crucial, critical, vital operations executed in Supply Chain within/across orgs when fulfilling customer orders as well as meeting contractual obligations between orgs as merchandise is transferred between different parties that partake in Supply Chain functions & operations. And these photos/videos data should not be stored in someone’s Smartphone or Email Inbox or in their personal/work Computer, but should be stored in a Centralized Enterprise system, where such data can be pushed into super-fast, stored securely, accessible to all stake holders (CFO/Sales Reps/Customer Support/AR/AP) in an org, as well as facilitates super-fast retrieval/sharing. LP is an Enterprise System of record for Photo/Video docs & is as important as an ERP which is an enterprise system of record for POs, SOs, Legal Contracts between parties etc. that have huge legal ramifications, also as important as a WMS (Warehouse Management System) that hold indispensable shipment & fulfillment data on orders. Like how Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat etc. have evolved into social media platforms/systems that enable individuals to showcase their beauty/pretty clothes/lovely cosmetics/hep coolness etc., LoadProof is an Enterprise system that holds similar photos/videos, but for a different reason, not for show off, but to serve as compelling, conclusive, unequivocal & indisputable system of record and proof that can be presented even in the court of law, when there is a dispute between parties while they execute many facets of the Supply Chain functions & operations. SG LoadProof is also an Enterprise System of Record for Photos, videos and any other digital documents for your Supply Chain Network. A system of record (SOR) or source system of record (SSoR) is a data management term for an information storage system (commonly implemented on a computer system running a database management system) that is the authoritative data source for a given data element or piece of information. The need to identify systems of record can become acute in organizations where management information systems have been built by taking output data from multiple source systems, re-processing this data, and then re-presenting the result for new business use. In these cases, multiple information systems may disagree about the same piece of information. These disagreements may stem from semantic differences, differences in opinion, use of different sources, and differences in the timing of the extract, transform, and load processes that create the data they report against, or may simply be the result of bugs. The integrity and validity of any data set is open to question when there is no traceable connection to a good source, such as a known System of Record. Where the integrity of the data is vital, if there is an agreed system of record, the data element must either be linked to, or extracted directly from it. In other cases, the provenance and estimated data quality should be documented. The “system of record” approach is a good fit for environments where both: 1. there is a single authority over all data consumers, and 2. all consumers have similar needs Here, LoadProof is the System of Record for pictures and videos for all the entities in Supply chain who uses pictures and videos to track using any Supply Chain System infrastructure. 1. LoadProof provides accurate, thorough, complete, and latest information in pictures and videos related to any entity in the Supply chain that is tracked. 2. LoadProof is the single authority on pictures and videos related to any entity in the Supply Chain that is tracked 3. LoadProof doesn’t let any external system to copy the records being stored in it, which eliminates the data being duplicated in multiple places to preserve the data integrity and credibility. 4. LoadProof has a secured login procedure which lets only users with select level access to view the data and modify the records which helps in maintaining LoadProof is becoming the Industry Standard System for Photo & Video Docs for Supply Chain Smart Gladiator is located in ATDC - Advanced Tech Dev Center (tech Incubator) in Georgia Institute of Tech. Click for a demo - https://loadproof.com/apply Puga is a supply chain technology professional with more than 25 years of experience in deploying capabilities in the logistics and supply chain domain. His prior roles involved managing complicated mission-critical programs driving revenue numbers, rolling out a multitude of capabilities involving more than a dozen systems, and managing a team of 30 to 50 personnel across multiple disciplines and departments in large corporations such as Hewlett Packard. He has deployed WMS for more than 30 distribution centers in his role as a senior manager with Manhattan Associates. He has also performed process analysis walk-throughs for more than 50 distribution centers for WMS process design and performance analysis review, optimizing processes for better productivity and visibility through the supply chain. Size of these DCs varied from 150,000 to 1.2 million SQFT. Puga Sankara has an MBA from Georgia Tech. He can be reached at puga@smartgladiator.com or visit the company at www.smartgladiator.com. Also follow him at www.pugasankara.com. [Read More]
More articles by: Puga Sankara

281 Comments

  4. Kamagra Commander maintenant [url=https://kamagraprix.com/#]kamagra livraison 24h[/url] Kamagra Oral Jelly pas cher

    Reply

  9. Achetez vos kamagra medicaments [url=https://kamagraprix.com/#]kamagra oral jelly[/url] kamagra 100mg prix

    Reply

  15. Acheter Cialis 20 mg pas cher [url=https://tadalmed.shop/#]Cialis en ligne[/url] Tadalafil 20 mg prix en pharmacie tadalmed.com

    Reply

  21. kamagra en ligne [url=http://kamagraprix.com/#]Kamagra Oral Jelly pas cher[/url] Achetez vos kamagra medicaments

    Reply

  26. Acheter Cialis [url=https://tadalmed.shop/#]Cialis sans ordonnance 24h[/url] Acheter Cialis 20 mg pas cher tadalmed.com

    Reply

  33. Achetez vos kamagra medicaments [url=http://kamagraprix.com/#]Kamagra Oral Jelly pas cher[/url] Kamagra pharmacie en ligne

    Reply

  39. Tadalafil sans ordonnance en ligne [url=https://tadalmed.shop/#]Tadalafil sans ordonnance en ligne[/url] Cialis generique prix tadalmed.com

    Reply

  44. Acheter Viagra Cialis sans ordonnance [url=http://tadalmed.com/#]Tadalafil sans ordonnance en ligne[/url] Tadalafil 20 mg prix sans ordonnance tadalmed.com

    Reply

  68. medicine courier from India to USA [url=https://medicinefromindia.shop/#]Medicine From India[/url] indian pharmacy

    Reply

  78. northern pharmacy canada [url=https://expressrxcanada.com/#]Express Rx Canada[/url] thecanadianpharmacy

    Reply

  84. mexico drug stores pharmacies [url=https://rxexpressmexico.com/#]RxExpressMexico[/url] Rx Express Mexico

    Reply

  89. indian pharmacy online [url=http://medicinefromindia.com/#]Medicine From India[/url] medicine courier from India to USA

    Reply

  95. canadian family pharmacy [url=https://expressrxcanada.shop/#]Express Rx Canada[/url] canadapharmacyonline legit

    Reply

  100. Medicine From India [url=https://medicinefromindia.shop/#]indian pharmacy online shopping[/url] medicine courier from India to USA

    Reply

  103. пинап казино [url=https://pinuprus.pro/#]пин ап казино[/url] пин ап казино официальный сайт

    Reply

  108. пин ап вход [url=https://pinuprus.pro/#]пин ап зеркало[/url] пин ап казино официальный сайт

    Reply

  112. вавада зеркало [url=https://vavadavhod.tech/#]vavada[/url] вавада зеркало

    Reply

  138. вавада казино [url=http://vavadavhod.tech/#]вавада[/url] вавада официальный сайт

    Reply

  143. вавада казино [url=https://vavadavhod.tech/#]вавада зеркало[/url] вавада казино

    Reply

  163. вавада зеркало [url=https://vavadavhod.tech/#]vavada[/url] вавада официальный сайт

    Reply

  167. вавада казино [url=https://vavadavhod.tech/#]vavada casino[/url] vavada вход

    Reply

  170. пин ап казино [url=http://pinuprus.pro/#]пин ап казино официальный сайт[/url] пин ап зеркало

    Reply

  184. пин ап зеркало [url=https://pinuprus.pro/#]pin up вход[/url] пин ап казино официальный сайт

    Reply

  202. пин ап вход [url=http://pinuprus.pro/#]пин ап зеркало[/url] пин ап казино официальный сайт

    Reply

  207. пин ап зеркало [url=http://pinuprus.pro/#]пин ап казино[/url] пин ап зеркало

    Reply

  212. пин ап вход [url=https://pinuprus.pro/#]пин ап вход[/url] пинап казино

    Reply

  216. pin up вход [url=http://pinuprus.pro/#]пинап казино[/url] пин ап вход

    Reply

  250. вавада [url=http://vavadavhod.tech/#]вавада зеркало[/url] вавада

    Reply

  253. пинап казино [url=https://pinuprus.pro/#]пин ап казино официальный сайт[/url] пин ап казино

    Reply

  258. modafinil legality [url=https://modafinilmd.store/#]modafinil pharmacy[/url] safe modafinil purchase

    Reply

  264. modafinil 2025 [url=https://modafinilmd.store/#]doctor-reviewed advice[/url] safe modafinil purchase

    Reply

  270. Cialis without prescription [url=https://zipgenericmd.com/#]reliable online pharmacy Cialis[/url] FDA approved generic Cialis

    Reply

  274. no doctor visit required [url=https://maxviagramd.com/#]trusted Viagra suppliers[/url] discreet shipping

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*