AtEase

This product development plan was created as part of the New Product Innovation course during my MBA.

Your packages secured by the people you trust.

For consumers who enjoy the convenience of shopping online but have concerns about the safety of their package, AtEase is a network of certified neighbors who will receive and secure your package in-person until you are available to pick it up or have it delivered to you. Unlike package lockboxes and drop-offs by parcel couriers, AtEase guarantees that your packages are always in trusted hands and close to your residence. By keeping packages off the porch and close to home, you can confidently shop online with a peace of mind.

Website mock-up I created using carrd.co and flaticon

Pitch Deck

Key Features

One-click Delivery Address

Instead of delivering a package to your home or business address when you’re shopping online, you can pick AtEase at checkout. AtEase offers a convenient plug-in that’s available on all web browsers. With just one click at checkout, AtEase automatically finds the most convenient neighborhood receiver in your area to receive your package.

Real-time Notifications

Once your package is delivered to the neighborhood receiver, you’ll receive an e-mail notification or in-app update on the status and state of your package.

Scheduled Pick-up or Delivery

At your convenience, you can schedule a time block with the neighborhood receiver to pick-up your package or have it delivered to your residence at an additional cost.

Package Tracking

Any package that is ordered through AtEase will have its tracking information added to your account so that you can conveniently see all of your incoming items at a glance no matter from how many different places you shop.

Ratings and Reviews

Users of the platform can rate and review package receivers to promote positive behavior and safety.

For a full list of features, including their functions and benefits, see the Feature-Function-Benefit framework in the end.

Problem

With the e-commerce market expected to grow an additional $2.3B in the next three years (Clement, 2020) within the United States, the frequency and quantity of packages that an average end-consumer will receive is also expected to rise. The negative side effect of this growing online marketplace is the outdated and insecure delivery service which has resulted in an increase in package theft.

The unreliability of package delivery is a growing concern. We performed a VOC survey on 27 online shoppers (see Exhibit 3A) in which 70% of all survey respondents reported that their biggest concern with package delivery is the package sitting idly outside their house at risk of theft. When the survey respondents were asked to choose a value between 1 to 5 to indicate how concerned they were about package theft, with 1 being not concerned and 5 being very concerned, 40.7% of all respondents reported a 5. These results are further confirmed by both a C+R Research survey that stated 36% of Americans had at least 1 package stolen in the past 12 months (C+R Research), and a survey performed by the Shorr Packaging Company that stated 54% of 1,052 online shoppers “changed their plans to be available to receive the package in-person” (Shorr, 2019) (see Exhibit 3B for more details).

Problem statement canvas

Current Solutions

Currently, the majority of package theft solutions are centered around passive end-consumer actions. Popular solutions used today are rescheduling delivery to ensure in-person acceptance (Shorr, 2019), delivering to an alternative address (Shorr, 2019), and purchasing a security deterrent such as a Ring doorbell or Arlo Security camera (C+R Research). Based on these current solutions, we compiled a list of products that consumers are currently using. See Exhibit 6 for a full breakdown.

In our VOC, we questioned the survey respondents on the drawbacks of these current solutions. 32% of respondents reported that delivering their packages to an alternative address is inconvenient because of distance traveled and lost time. 11% found that security systems are unreliable due to connectivity issues and poor video footage. 5% stated that security systems are costly. This demonstrates the market opportunity to provide a solution that is not only secure and convenient but also low-cost.

Market Size

Competitive Landscape

From our research, we found the package-theft-prevention market to be dominated by package delivery companies, outdoor security systems, and parcel lockers. See Exhibit 9 for a perceptual map evaluating the competition based on cost and convenience.

Package Delivery Companies

In the survey conducted by Shorr, 45% of survey respondents schedule their delivery. In other words, the consumer was not available to accept the package at the original delivery time and requested that the delivery company deliver the package again at another time when they are available. The major players in this space are package delivery companies like UPS, Fedex, USPS, and Amazon, all of whom offer the ability to reschedule deliveries to other days.

Home Security Systems

33% of survey respondents purchased home security systems. In the home security systems space, the companies sell and distribute a variety of indoor and outdoor security applications, such as smart locks, motion detectors, and doorbell cameras. The major players in this space include Ring by Amazon, Arlo, and Nest by Google. Home security systems are generally expensive, costing $100 to $250 upfront and $15 to $35 per month for professional monitoring, live camera footage, and cloud storage (Starr, 2020). Although home security systems deter porch pirates, 12% of survey respondents in our VOC reported that security cameras are unreliable due to poor footage quality and connectivity issues.

Package Lockboxes

19% of survey respondents utilize package lockboxes (Shorr, 2019). Package lockboxes are self-service lockers, which includes cluster boxes and kiosks. The major players in this space include GO Locker, Parcel Pending, and Amazon Hub, and it also includes package delivery companies with local access points such as UPS, Fedex, and USPS. Package lockboxes are generally located in communities, apartments, and retail spaces, and are limited in the size of packages that it can receive.

Differentiation

Unlike our competitors, AtEase keeps a high level of security and convenience while maintaining a relatively low price to use. It does this by being the only solution that proactively protects packages by putting them in the hands of a certified neighbor until it reaches its final destination. It also is the only proactive security solution that guarantees closeness in proximity to the end consumer’s address.

Critical Success Factors

For AtEase to be successful, it must provide substantially more value than existing offerings and competitor moves. To achieve this, the service must be as convenient as possible while minimizing costs to consumers. One of the primary critical success factors is network density. Because AtEase is a localized solution for consumers, there must be a high density of certified receivers (1 receiver per mile radius based on focus group feedback) to offer a high enough level of convenience for people to use. There must also be enough end consumers using the program to incentivize receivers and achieve network balance.

Another critical success factor is bringing the service to the consumers at a very low cost. Despite AtEase’s value proposition, the willingness for consumers to pay the neighborhood receiver is not likely due to other low cost, and sometimes free, alternatives, such as UPS’s rescheduling service. The neighborhood receivers have to be paid, and as a result the unit economics would not work in our favor.

In order for our business model to work, the costs need to be subsidized by retailers and package delivery companies. According to a 2015 report published by the NRF, merchandise returns accounted for over $260.5 billion in lost sales for US retailers in 2015. Because our service guarantees that packages are always received by someone, we could strategically partner with retailers to help them drive down costs associated with returns and lost merchandise.

The last critical success factor is to execute on the current business plan in a way that minimizes risk of liability to AtEase. AtEase must properly structure the company in a way that avoids AtEase becoming the point of blame for any and all package disputes. As a last mile delivery service, AtEase is the last point of contact for consumers, which puts it at risk of backlash regardless of the true cause of any problems with the package.

If AtEase can achieve a critical mass and density in the network, strong partnerships, and proper positioning in the customer’s minds, it will find success in the market.

Focus Group

We conducted 5 focus group sessions with 2 to 4 participants each, using a landing page mock-up to explain the what, how, and why of the product.

The website was created using carrd.co. The graphics are from flaticon.

Through the focus group we were able to gather valuable insight about potential use cases, comfortable price points, and anticipated challenges in deployment. Here are the key takeaways:

• Like all other gig economies, building trust on the platform is very important. Consumers needs to be able to rate their receivers. Receivers should also pass strict background checks.
• Proximity is a critical success factor for convenience. Location of the package should be within one mile of the consumer’s residence to be deemed convenient for pick-up or delivery.
• Work with community organizations such as the Homeowners Association to introduce the program into neighborhoods in a structured and safe manner.
• Power users prefer a subscription model.
• The value that AtEase offers is marginal compared to what the focus groups currently do. They stated that it’s not that inconvenient to ask UPS to reschedule the delivery to another time when they’re available. They also stated that it’s extremely painless to get a refund or replacement for a lost package from the retailer at no additional cost.
• Because AtEase is a last mile service provider, customer service will be crucial in overseeing disputes, damages, and losses associated with the package.
• Unless the AtEase platform handles the entire last mile delivery process, it would be a hassle to track the packages from UPS and then to AtEase. AtEase should be the only source of information after the merchandise has been purchased online from the retailer.

Launch Goals

Communciations and Messaging Strategy

Risk Assessment

Competition

AtEase faces stiff competition from package delivery incumbents, such as UPS, Fedex, and USPS, all of whom offer scheduling services and closer access points to store your packages at free or very low price points. Our focus group testers have indicated that the benefits we offer over these existing services is marginal. In order to generate buy-in from consumers, AtEase will need to position itself as the most convenient and secure last-mile package delivery service provider.

Cost to reach critical mass

AtEase has a business model that depends on network effects to reach critical mass. Without scale, AtEase is at a risk of burning more cash than it can generate to sustain expansion and pay its neighborhood receivers. In order to reach high scale growth, AtEase will spend significantly on marketing and will subsidize retailers and package delivery companies.

Although not discussed in this plan, retailers will be a key part of this multi-sided equation. By reducing package theft, AtEase will save retailers billions of dollars in returns and lost merchandise. The majority of AtEase’s revenue will come from the retailers—the B2B side of the platform.

Liabilities of receiving and delivering goods by contractors

Although AtEase provides online training and guidelines for users signing up to become receivers and delivery drivers of packages, there are potential risks of bodily injury, property damage, and package loss. AtEase offers insurance that covers up to $1,000,000 in injury or damage to the contractors and to the packages.

Privacy & Security

Although we put measures in place to address the security of AtEase users and neighborhood receivers, there are risks. Our focus group testers have addressed concerns about a stranger handling and delivering their packages, especially when the destination involves their residence. To address these concerns, AtEase implements call lines, location tracking for package delivery drivers, and public ratings and reviews to make sure all users can make the safest decisions..

Exhibits

Feature-Function-Benefit

SWOT

Strengths

• Crowdsource package security rather than leaving packages sitting unattended
• Low cost compared to other alternatives like security systems
• More convenient compared to other alternatives like Amazon Hub which still requires you to drive to a store

Weaknesses

• High barrier of entry: few players with large networks and high level of trust needed from end consumer
• Need vendors, receivers, and end-consumers to equally participate in this platform

Opportunities

• Scalable
• Targeting suburban areas surrounding metropolitan areas is a geographical location not yet heavily targeted

Threats

• Requires network effects to scale
• Easy imitation by key players in the industry

Product Market Fit Canvas

Metrics

References

2019 Package Theft Statistics Report

2020 Package Theft Statistics: The Latest Package Theft Data

Why Doorman Failed (and what other delivery startups should learn from it).

2019 Package Theft Report: Porch Pirates and Prevention