How to Prevent Your Packages From Being Stolen This Holiday Season As we head into this holiday season, more people are shopping online this year than ever before. It’s predicted that online e-commerce sales will reach between $210 to $218 billion, and will grow 15% more compared to the 2020 holiday season. Since fewer people are heading to the store and opting for express shipping straight to their front door, we can assume that these packages that sit unattended for hours on people’s porches will attract porch pirates. In 2020, 43% of people reported having a package stolen, which is a 7% increase in reports from 2019. Of the 43% of people who had a package stolen, more than half had it happen more than once. If you’ve been the victim of package theft before or simply want to protect your property from thieves in the future, here are some of the best ways to secure your home and your packages. 1. Install a Doorbell Camera Whether you’re at work, on vacation, or simply relaxing on the couch, you’ll know when your package is at your door when the delivery driver rings your doorbell, triggering a notification on your smartphone. Doorbell cameras from Alarm.com pair with their own app that enables you to have a live video view of the driver and any further activity while your package waits for you on the porch. 2. Give Delivery Directions Giving your delivery driver instructions is an easy way to protect your packages. For example, if you’re home but prefer to not go to the door at the time of delivery, you can tell the driver to leave the package outside to collect when they leave. If you’re not home, you can tell the driver to leave it inside your home instead. With Alarm.com’s doorbell camera, you can easily unlock your door using the lock icon that you see on your doorbell camera feed in the Alarm.com app. Then simply secure the door after the driver drops the package off inside. 3. Make Others Aware of your Security System According to this study done by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 83% of thieves try to determine whether a house has a security system installed. If security is present, 87% would move on to another home. You can make it clear that you have a home security system installing exterior cameras and placing the provided signs from home security companies in your front and back yards. With technology from Alarm.com, protecting your parcels from porch pirates is easy and efficient. Our home security installation experts are here to help you enhance your security system with a doorbell camera and smart lock, get started today with a free quote!
