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“This holiday season, online shoppers need to have a safe and secure delivery plan.” –InsuranceQuote.com
East County News Service
December 8, 2020 (San Diego) -- Have you created your safe delivery plan yet? According to insuranceQuotes.com’s newly released 2020 Porch Pirates in the Age of COVID-19 Report, 7% of Americans—over 17 million people—have had a delivered package stolen from their porch or doorstep since March, when the COVID-19 pandemic began to make an impact. Furthermore, 47% of Americans say that all or most of their holiday shopping this year will be done via online delivery. Locally, posts on local NextDoor.com forums confirm that porch pirates have been active locally—Grinches stealing Christmas gifts and more.
“As online shopping and delivery increases, so does the risk of porch pirates—which is not only being compounded by a once-in-a-100-years pandemic spurring online ordering, but also now, holiday shopping. This holiday season, online shoppers need to have a safe and secure delivery plan,” said Michael Giusti, analyst at insuranceQuotes.com and author of the report.
Among the study’s additional findings:
- 18% of Americans say they have had a delivered package stolen from their porch or doorstep in their lifetime.
- 14% say that all or most of their grocery shopping is done via online delivery.
- 36% say that since March, they have shifted away from in-person purchasing in favor of online purchasing.
“Fortunately for consumers, there are effective ways to protect themselves and their packages from porch pirates—from order tracking to installing a security system to arranging for a pickup location. There are even some cities volunteering their local police departments as a package pickup point,” added Giusti. “In the short term, the porch pirates problem is likely to get worse before it gets better. But it will get better.”
Opting for curbside pickup from local stores is one option to minimize vulnerability to porch pirates. Locking mail boxes can protect packages sent via the postal service. For packages sent via a private delivery service, it can be harder to prevent theft. Many consumers have installed Ring doorbells as affordable solutions to catch thieves on camera, post images on social media to warn neighbors, help identify suspects and alert police to aid in arresting those responsible.
This year’s report is a follow-up to insuranceQuote.com’s porch pirate reports from 2019, 2018 and 2017.
The full 2020 Porch Pirates in the Age of COVID-19 Report—which includes in-depth data and analysis on porch pirates and online delivery trends, along with tips for consumers to protect their packages, as well as what steps to take after falling victim to package theft—is available at https://www.insurancequotes.
Methodology
This study was conducted for insuranceQuotes.com via telephone by SSRS. Interviews were conducted from October 27-November 1, 2020 among a sample of 1,007 respondents in English (972) and Spanish (35). The margin of error for total respondents is +/-3.68% at the 95% confidence level. All SSRS Omnibus data are weighted to represent the target population.
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