With the rise of online shopping come several unpleasant side effects. For one, getting a parcel delivered can now take longer than before, due to the sheer volume of daily deliveries criss-crossing the country.
However, a much more worrisome and distressing one is the rise in parcel theft. While we have no data available for 2020 yet, around 6000 parcels were reported to have been stolen in the UK in 2018 and 2019.
While the fact that we were all stuck in our homes last year may have prevented a lot of these thefts, as we start returning to our regular lives, yet hold on to our online shopping habits, we may find these numbers starting to rise again.
In order to do your bit in parcel theft prevention, we encourage you to invest in an I Love Parcels parcel delivery box – our solution for all delivery-related issues, from theft to inconvenience.
Let’s take a look at its theft-preventing abilities.
Safer Than the Bins, For Sure
First and foremost, any box that has a lock and key is a much safer option than asking the delivery man to leave your parcels behind the bins, or hide them behind a bush. Experienced thieves are already familiar with this practice, for one thing. For another, it’s easy for someone masquerading as a delivery man themselves to rummage through your yard and locate any hidden parcels.
While in most cases you will be able to get away with this practice, wouldn’t it be better (and safer) to just find a permanent solution?
When you have a parcel box, you can rest assured that your parcels are not being left out in the open, and that they won’t be gotten at by anyone with indecent aspirations.
You Do Need a Key, You Know
There are delivery boxes, and there are delivery boxes – some are unfortunately made from rather flimsy materials and can be pried open quite easily.
This is not the case with any of the I Love Parcels parcel boxes, however.
All of them are made from galvanised steel, which means they can’t be broken into in a jiffy, and will protect your valuables at all times. They will incidentally also protect them from the weather, but that’s another matter.
Both our medium and our large parcel boxes also come with a chute that is used to drop the parcels into the lower compartment. And no, you can’t simply use a hook or any other thievery implement to then remove the parcel through said chute. Once the parcel has landed in the lower compartment, it can only be accessed by the person who has a key, or who knows the combination to the lock, depending on the model.
Fair warning: make sure you write the combination down and have a spare key on hand, as you don’t want to have to figure out a way to get into that box.
Some of our parcel boxes can also be accessed from the back or the front, so you can choose a model that best fits your home and the size of the parcels you usually receive.
Place It In a Safe Location, To Be Perfectly Safe
Given the fact that no safe is completely safe, and that there are extremely reckless thieves walking our streets, you can also ensure some added protection by placing your parcel box in a particularly safe area.
There are two schools of thought when it comes to the question of the best parcel box location: those who advocate placing them in a secluded area where they won’t be spotted from the street, and those that advise placing them in highly visible areas.
The first camp claims that if thieves can’t see the parcel box, they are much less likely to be tempted by it. So, by placing yours out of direct sight from the street, you might be reducing some risk.
On the other hand, this makes it necessary for your delivery and postmen to hunt it down as well, which is not an ideal solution by any means.
The second camp states that you are best off placing your parcel box somewhere visible. Near your front door or at the end of your drive, for example. Our wall-mounted letterboxes can be attached to the brick walls, gate, fence or the floor, you can ensure they won’t just be lifted off the premises.
A highly visible and open area also means the thief will never have the coverage they need to perform their deed, as they will at all times be open to the eyes of neighbours and passers-by, further reducing risk of theft.
Ultimately, the decision is up to you. You know your home and area best, and will certainly be able to find the ideal spot for your parcel box.
Your Identity is Kept Safe Too
While we rarely pause to think about it, identity theft often also comes with parcel theft, and it can take a lot of your time, resources and nerves to ensure all of your personal data is protected, recovered, and not being used by someone else.
With a parcel box, you don’t have to worry about identity theft either – all of your bills and mail will be kept safe, whether you choose a smaller or a larger model. The same principle applies – letters can’t be fished out of the box, and they will await your pleasure, snug against your parcels.
To Sum It Up
A parcel delivery box can in fact, as you can see, solve a lot of your immediate delivery issues in one fell stroke. You will no longer have to worry about parcel theft, but you also won’t have to worry about your parcels getting damaged by the weather, or being at home or attending a WFH meeting when the delivery man rings the doorbell.
Check out our parcel boxes, and let us know which one you like – we’ll be happy to answer any questions if you are not quite ready to place an order just yet
