43% of Americans Experienced ‘Porch Pirates’ in 2020
Reading Time: 2 minutes 2020 has been a record year for eCommerce due largely to the role of Covid-19 and forcing people to purchase more online. Due to this however is the very real problem of package thefts or also known as ‘Porch Pirates’ the opportunistic theft of packages that are left outside of homes.
In an incredible statistic from C+R Research they claim that 43% of all American eCommerce customers have been the victim of a porch pirate in 2020.
More Deliveries Means More Opportunities For Theft
C+R Research surveyed 2000 eCommerce customers for their report and found that 59% of participants were receiving at least one package weekly, which was up a significant 10% on the numbers from 2019.
With more packages left on doorsteps or porches not only due to increased deliveries but also more strict Coronavirus limitations on contactless deliveries it has led to more opportunities for Porch Pirates to claim packages which are not theirs.
You can check out the full report from C+R Research here.
Ways To Protect Yourself From Porch Pirates
The research from C+R above includes ways that eCommerce customers can better protect themselves from ‘Porch Pirates’
One of the more obvious technological advances in recent years is the doorbell with the inbuilt camera. Which has managed to catch numerous ‘Pirates’ in the act, and whilst it may not always lead to capturing the thief it will at least make a strong case for the customer getting a refund or replacement. The same can be said for home CCTV too.
This issue has also been highlighted by popular YouTuber and former NASA and Apple Engineer Mark Rober who over the last 3 years has been fighting back against the ‘Porch Pirates’ at Christmas time with his ingenius ‘Home Alone’ inspired Glitterbomb traps.
Needless to say the issue around ‘Porch Pirates’ is seemingly getting worse, not better due to a number of reasons.
Have you had your own experiences with your packages being stolen, either as a seller or a buyer? What impact has it had on you or your business? Let us know over in our Facebook Group.
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Dave Furness
Dave is a Co-Founder of eSeller365. For over 10 years he has been involved with eCommerce with a particular interest in the marketplaces and the huge opportunities available for sellers when utilizing a multi-channel strategy. After a year of being the UK’s youngest eCommerce consultant, he built an education platform called UnderstandingE that showed the world how to utilize Magento as the “Third Generation of Multi-Channel software”.
Dave has also created a YouTube channel dedicated to entrepreneurship and eCommerce as well as a podcast dedicated to mental health awareness. When Dave isn’t working his main interests include learning and playing Chess, researching the Crypto and NFT space, and trying to find the nearest beach.