Package theft is a growing problem across America. A recent package theft report found that 36% of Americans have dealt with package theft within the last year. With Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the holiday shopping season approaching rapidly that number is sure to rise.
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A marketing research firm based out of Chicago, C+R research recently surveyed 2,000 American consumers to see who’s being affected by package theft this holiday season. Let’s take a look at some of the interesting takeaways from the package theft report.
The survey started out by asking about the frequency of package delivery in the United States. 45% of American consumers say they have a package delivered at least once per week and 45% says they get a package delivered at least once per month. Only 5% of respondents said they receive a package at least once per year and 1% said rarely to never. The average number of packaged delivered per year is 45 packages. That number increases slightly for Amazon Prime members (51) and drops significantly for non-prime members (25). They survey also found that the average e-commerce spending per month is $222.
The second part of the survey asked about package theft. 36% of American consumers say they’ve had a package stolen. 56% of American consumers know someone who has had a package stolen. 31% say their neighbor has had a package stolen. Of those who have had a package stolen, 56% say it happened only once, 22% said it’s happened twice and 9% say it’s happened five or more times. Consumers report that the average cost to replace a stolen item is $109.
Package Theft Report Details
Listed below are the top actions consumers take after a package was stolen:
- Contacted the seller/Amazon (83%)
- Contacted the delivery service (60%)
- Checked with neighbors (48%)
- Called the police (13%)
- Viewed a neighbor’s security camera (7%)
The next part of the survey looked at the measure’s consumers are taking to prevent package theft. Among the people who have reported a package theft previously, 25% installed a doorbell camera, 19% installed another type of security camera, 17% installed motion lights, 10% bought a dog, 5% installed a fence or gate and 4% invested in an Amazon Smart Key. The average consumer has spent $191 to prevent package theft. 54% of consumers are fearful of packages being stolen when making purchased online and 42% avoid buying certain items due to the threat of theft.
The final part of the survey looked at precaution’s shoppers are taking for this holiday shopping season. 50% of consumers said they planned to stay home for a delivery this holiday season. 32% plan to shop at stores as opposed to online. 31% will choose an in-store pick-up option as opposed to having the package delivered. The full report on package theft from C+R research can be seen below.
