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Amazon has taken over many facets of ecommerce — from web hosting services and the largest ecommerce platform to shipping and delivery vehicles and even delivery lockers. When convenience is the name of the game, having a comprehensive smart locker system is critical in keeping packages safe, making deliveries accessible 24/7, and ensuring sensitive items don’t spoil or break.
However, Amazon lockers are indeed prone to issues that may make or break your purchasing decision. Here we’ll go over some of the most common Amazon locker problems and highlight some affordable alternatives.
Size and Weight Limits
Amazon Hub Lockers have fairly tight restrictions when it comes to what can and can’t be shipped and stored in them. In most cases, your item must weigh under 10 pounds and be smaller than 16 x 12 x 14 inches, otherwise the option to ship to an Amazon locker won’t be available at checkout. This might be fine for small, everyday items, but for the most part limits what you’ll be able to ship and receive.
A great alternative to this is Smiota’s Smart Lockers with modular design capabilities. Smiota’s line of indoor, outdoor, and temperature-controlled lockers are tough enough for heavy use and are available in multiple locker door sizes and configurations for any use case. There are plenty of options to choose from if you need your lockers to do even more.
Must Have a Paid Account
In order to even have the ability to ship to Amazon lockers in the first place, you must have an Amazon Prime account — that’s $14.99 per month just for access. That doesn’t even account for the cost of the items shipped and whether the items themselves meet the size and weight criteria.
Meanwhile, cost-friendly alternatives like Smiota don’t require a subscription at all. It’s a one-time fee to purchase and install the lockers and then you or your customers can ship and receive with ease. Whether for retail stores, university campuses, government facilities, corporate buildings, multifamily residential complexes, or anything else, you can rest easy that you’re not nickel-and-diming your customers or residents to access what should be, in our opinion, a standard amenity.
Curious to know more about our smart locker pricing structure? Get in touch today.
Mechanical Failures
In the world of automation and technology, it’s only natural that mechanical issues will crop up from time to time. It’s not uncommon to find forums and Reddit threads of users complaining about Amazon locker headaches that wind up stripping the shipping experience of all convenience. While it may be understandable for their lockers to malfunction occasionally, the $14.99/month buy-in makes it all the more frustrating.
Smiota’s Smart Lockers, on the other hand, are all equipped with a state-of-the-art, proprietary smart locker operating system that mitigates mechanical issues through real-time reporting dashboards and automated notifications in the event of a mechanical failure. This makes it easier to take swift action to minimize downtime and keep your recipients happy.
Read more about our smart locker technology platform here.
Prone to Relocation
Amazon lockers, unsurprisingly, are governed by the corporation itself. This means that at any point in time, with minimal warning, they may remove or relocate their smart locker systems despite the convenience it provides to a community, thus making them unreliable in the long run.
It also means that Amazon gets to choose where and how the lockers are placed, which has caused issues in the past. In Chicago, for instance, they positioned their lockers in such a way that blocked the sidewalk in a local park, which sparked public outcry. Amazon did wind up removing the lockers and re-evaluating other locations, but it goes to show how important locker placement is and how quickly the public can turn on you when you don’t consider their needs.
This is why Smiota’s experts can work with you and your building or business to ensure best practices are employed when it comes to placing your lockers. Don’t keep your customers or residents guessing where lockers are or whether they’ll be removed — place them once and keep the long-term convenience.
Smiota Is Your Best Resource For Smart Locker Convenience
With cutting-edge security features, sturdy materials, and modular design capabilities, Smiota’s smart lockers are your #1 resource to taking preventative measures against package thieves, keeping customers happy, and ensuring mailroom efficiency. We can help you automate your shipping, receiving, and BOPIS services by providing 24/7 support access, heightened security, a customizable platform, and an app that easily integrates with your existing software.
Schedule a demo or give us a call to get started on your customized smart locker solution today!
