Signed, sealed, delivered: Package pickups are a breeze thanks to new Transact-Luxer One partnership

In a scene from the 1996 film “Matilda,” about a heartless couple who adopts a girl with superpowers, Matilda, nearly seven years old, wants to attend school, but her father vetoes the idea. “School is out of the question. Who would be here to sign for the packages? We can’t leave valuable packages sitting out on the doorstep!” he exclaims. While her dad’s logic is irrational and over the top, these days many of us are preoccupied with making sure our packages are delivered safely and securely.

Ordering online has never been easier—we can order anything we want, anytime, from anywhere. And when it comes to college students and their packages, well, they have very specific expectations. According to “Mail & E-Commerce Through the Ages: A USPS Generational Study,” (2021), “Gen Z is more likely than other generation to shop on their mobile device, and they value delivery speed as the most important factor when ordering.”

At Transact Campus, we listen to our clients’ needs, and since learning students wanted smart lockers on campus for their deliveries, we’ve been working on making it happen. We’re excited to announce our new partnership with Luxer One, a leading package management solutions company and smart locker pioneer. To date, Luxer One has successfully delivered over a quarter of a billion packages to smart lockers across North America, so they’re the ideal partner to bring students the best package delivery solutions on campus.

Students want a safe place to store their stuff 

In their article, “Here’s Why Your Campus Mailroom Needs Package Lockers,” (2019) Luxer One explains the necessity of evolving technology and package storage solutions for students living on college campuses.

“Students want a space to keep their stuff safe while they are in class, and the convenience to pick it up whenever they want.” 

Students expecting deliveries often face limited pickup hours, long lines, or unattended packages. Simply put, today’s constant influx of packages has left students frustrated and dissatisfied, and university mailrooms overwhelmed.

What are smart lockers, and do they really work? 

Smart lockers are designed to hold packages for as long as needed until someone picks them up. After a carrier delivers a package to a smart locker, the recipient receives an automatic notification alerting them that they've received a package. Then, they can go pick up the package when it’s convenient for them. Here’s a brief overview of smart locker benefits: 

• Indoor lockers offer students an easy, contactless order pickup and drop-off experience. 
• Students get secure, round-the-clock access to lockers through their smartphone. 
• Luxer One offers 24/7 parcel video monitoring 
• Provide 24-hour accessibility to textbooks and materials, tablets, computers, and audio-visual equipment 
• Easy-to-follow instructions 

A top California university, experiencing major issues with its mailroom and long wait times for pickups, installed Luxer One’s smart lockers and never looked back.

Upon follow up, Luxer One’s case study revealed a 60% faster pickup process, the ability to accommodate up to 250 packages a day, and an average time of 45 seconds for students to pick up leave with their packages in hand. Students said they loved the lockers! 

But wait, there’s more! 

Laptop exchange and return. Smart lockers are becoming popular solutions for other use cases on campuses besides just package delivery and pickup. IT departments can use smart lockers for students to pick up and return rented laptops, tablets, and other devices. Other possible uses include: 

Library holds. Smart lockers can hold reserved university books and other materials, allowing students to pick them up anytime. 

Bag and personal item storage. Smart lockers provide secure storage for students to store their bags and other personal items during classes, while at the gym, or running errands. 

Student bookstore pickup. Smart lockers can be used to provide a convenient 24/7 online order/pickup service for students, a more efficient way to retrieve their purchases from the campus bookstore. 

Peer-to-peer exchange for students and staff. For example, a student can leave a textbook for a peer to pick up, providing a convenient, easy way for students to exchange goods without meeting in person. 

Once upon a time, before smart lockers... 

For those of you who attended college and were lucky enough to get a care package from home (think homemade brownies, toiletries, and cash), you were a) the envy of your dorm and b) didn’t have the advantages of smart lockers. Your on-campus package pickup process probably went something like this: 

Then: 

Package alert: You received a call or letter from mom or dad that a package was on its way. Or, a package just showed up out of the blue, with no warning at all. 

Package arrival: Campus mail center staff manually logged in your parcel’s details and stored it on site until you came by to claim it; you may (or may not) have gotten a call that a package is waiting. Alternatively, your package might be delivered straight to your dorm room door, but if you weren’t home, it could be left there for hours or stolen, with no way to confirm delivery. 

Package pickup: You had to wait until the campus mail center opened so they could find your package, request your ID, and hand it to you. Chances are, the pickup line was looooong. 

Bottom line: It was a tedious, cumbersome process that was time-consuming, unorganized, and unpredictable. 

There is a better way, thanks to smart lockers: 

Now: 

Package alert: Amazon, UPS, USPS, etc. notifies you via email and/or text that a package is on the way. 

Package arrival: Items are delivered to a secure smart locker. There’s no need for a campus staff member to be present; the whole process is contactless, and packages are logged in via touchscreen. Luxer One notifies recipient a package is waiting via email or text message. 

Package pickup: When it’s convenient for them, students can open lockers via smartphone, using their Mobile Credential or student ID card. 

Bottom line: Smart lockers provide a safe and secure place for convenient package pickups, with no long lines or worries about lost or stolen packages. 

Transact + Luxer One: Your package delivery dream team 

Since Transact already had an established partnership with Assa Abloy, teaming with Luxer One, one of their subsidiaries, seemed like a logical extension.

“Luxer One combines rugged configurable locker hardware with feature-rich cloud software, exceptional customer and student support, and easily integrates with Transact Campus ID’s, in particular Mobile Credential,” said Scott Dennison, Senior Director, Product Management & Security at Transact. 

Teaming up with Luxer One is a win-win: colleges save time and money, and students get their packages safely, securely, and quickly. Smart lockers are like virtual front doors for package recipients—they’re ready and available to accept deliveries anytime, day or night.

Imagine your campus with smart lockers 

Now that you’ve heard about the outstanding efficiency and value of smart lockers, here’s how you can learn more: 

Watch this webinar. Join hosts Scott Dennison, Senior Director, Product Management & Security at Transact and Dave Dexter, Luxer One Vice President, for an overview of Luxer One Smart Lockers. Click here to get started. 

Check out this infographic. Here’s a quick reference sheet with helpful information about how smart lockers work and more details about the Transact + Luxer One partnership. 

Let’s talk. Get in touch with one of our team members to hear more about how smart lockers can improve your campus experience.