The age of e-commerce has delivered an unexpected new holiday tradition: Porch piracy. According to dramatic reports from across the country, retail raiders take advantage of increased holiday e-commerce to pilfer Prime products from porches.
But fear not: Several companies have started to sell products meant to protect people from petty pirates. And, naturally, you can buy them on Amazon.
‘Tis the season for e-commerce treason
In the past decade, the percentage of all retail sales transacted online has increased from 3.5% to 11.9%.
This is especially evident during the holidays: Americans are expected to spend $119B in online shopping this holiday season, mostly on Amazon (which processes 50% of e-commerce).
But as deliveries increase, so do thefts: 26m Americans have lost packages to porch pirates during the holiday season.
There are ways to beat the brazen buccaneers…
For a price. As you might expect, several startups are selling solutions to porch piracy.
Apps like Doorman offer software-based solutions to ensure packages arrive at safe times. Lo-fi options such as The Original Porch Pirate Bag just lock purchases to customers’ doors (sadly, it’s currently sold out on Amazon).
Amazon also has solutions to protect its booty ranging from in-car deliveries to lockers to Amazon Key, which lets Amazon drivers enter your home to deliver the goods.