Welcome to the age of e-commerce. The contemporary digitized shopping module is impacting commercial real estate in more areas than just retail and industrial – it’s also having strong impacts on multi-family.

Multi-family tenants rely on massive online realtors, such as Amazon, meaning more packages are coming through the door – and they all need to be processed through the building’s centralized mail circuit.

A few years ago, this wasn’t much of a stressor for management. However, the times have certainly changed and the sheer number of online orders isn’t what it used to be.

According to data from E-Marketer, by 2023 the global e-commerce industry is anticipated to exceed $6.5 billion. This change has happened so quickly it’s left multi-family managers struggling to keep up.

Multi-family property managers are facing an unprecedented volume of package deliveries where both the frequency of deliveries and the number of boxes have been exponentially increased. The heat is on – and, with e-commerce on the rise, it’s only expected to intensify.

It’s time to get the situation under control before it gets out of hand. Use these 4 tips to stay organized.

Let Tech Lend a Hand

At this point, it’s a good time to invest in technologies. Technology is playing a pivotal role in supporting today’s quota of package deliveries.

There are tons of ways tech can be weaved into the package delivery process – be it at the front door for mailmen, through a community app that alerts tenants to their delivery, or a digitally delivered safe code key that needs to be shown to retrieve a package.

Don’t get overwhelmed with the possibilities for tech integration. The options are nearly endless, but focus on what matters most for your community needs. Property managers should take a deeper look at their specific issues and employ tech to their primary pain points.

Consider Expanding the Mail Room

If your property’s mail room is already feeling cramped, it may be time to invest in a renovation. Expanding the mail room is a must in order to accommodate packages – which are increasing in both number and size.

Hire More On-Site Team Members

At this point, the package delivery system has gotten so intense that it may be time to start growing your team.

Increasing the number of people on-site can help alleviate the pressures of accommodating for the frequent deliveries happening daily. In fact, some property managers even find it necessary to create a position specifically to handle the influx of e-commerce packages.

Delivery Lockers Assure Safety and Security

No property management team wants to incur the wrath of a tenant who can’t locate their package. Mail room discrepancies are becoming a big issue for management teams that are struggling to mitigate the organization and security issues that accompany e-commerce deliveries.

In order to avoid these issues, delivery lockers are helping keep packages safe and secure. These unit-specific lockers are a safe house for e-commerce orders until their owners can come down and pick them up. This lock-and-key option is superior to leaving the package sitting out in the open.

These 4 tips are set to help streamline the added load of package deliveries to multi-family properties – mitigating the stress from the management.