The advent of the Covid-19 pandemic just two years back has completely shifted the dynamics of our normal lifestyle patterns.
The amount of its impact has turned out to be so huge and catastrophic that many things and routines that were previously hard to imagine will stay with us for an unanticipated amount of time in the future.
For example, even a few days before its outbreak on a global level, it was hard to think that the use of technological innovation such as smart lockers and digital locker systems would suddenly become a necessity rather than a mere convenience which people would otherwise have had the choice to gradually adopt at their own pace.
And while it is unfortunate that new waves of the Covid-19 pandemic continue to surface every few months since its first appearance, it is good that many of the innovative solutions adopted during this dreadful era will continue to serve and help us perform and manage our daily routine.
In simple words, any development that ensures and prioritizes public health is bound to stay with us in the foreseeable future.
Smart lockers in the age of social distancing
One such positive implication of the Covid-19 era, as mentioned above, is the use of smart lockers and digital locker systems which has increasingly gained popularity among small to large-sized retail enterprises, housing complexes, schools, and universities.
Practicing social distancing was and still is one of the primary, yet major defense strategies emphasized to prevent encountering the Coronavirus disease.
Undoubtedly, smart locker manufacturers’ innovation in the form of smart lockers and digital locker systems has helped greatly in practicing social distancing while continuing our safe and limited interaction with other people.
In this article, we highlight how the use of smart lockers, intelligent lockers, and digital locker systems is helping in normalizing many key aspects of our routine life while helping us adhere to the necessary safety protocol of social distancing introduced during the Covid-19 era.
Streamline pickup
Online shopping or e-commerce platforms reached a massive influx of audience during the Covid-19 era.
In fact, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that there happened to be a time of so much uncertainty that perhaps online shopping portals seemed to be the only available sources of buying even the everyday essential items.
However, keeping in view the ongoing pandemic situation and limiting physical interaction as much as possible, the use of smart locker facilities turned out to be a hassle-free solution.
Courier personnel or store staff would drop the parcels against an online order in a designated locker box at a nearby digital locker facility or on-site smart locker system.
Once done, the buyer or recipient would receive a notification and a code to access their assigned locker at any time of their own convenience.
This not only promoted social distancing but also streamlined pickup with a hassle-free and flexible solution.
Temperature controlled
Almost all smart locker manufacturers today offer smart lockers and digital locker systems with temperature control solutions.
Due to this, food, grocery items, as well as pharmaceutical prescriptions bought online stay fresh, chilled, frozen, or even heated until their intended recipient collects them.
Besides encouraging social distancing, the temperature controlling feature alone also promoted the online sale of perishable items. Now buyers could easily rely on and feel confident about the quality of these goods as if bought in-person.
Convenient 24-hour access
Another key advantage of the digital locker system is their availability and ease of access on a 24-hour basis, something that physical stores or manually operated locker facilities lacked.
Again, 24-hour access meant adherence to the social distancing rule by visiting the locker facility at any non-rush hour of the day.
Additionally, smart locker manufacturers also introduced outdoor digital locker systems as well that could perform the same functions as their indoor counterparts. Of course, outdoor digital locker systems have an added layer of protection against any outdoor weather, security, or other threats.
Touchless technology
With its primary focus on ensuring social distancing and avoiding physical interaction as much as possible, the use of touchless technology became a key goal.
Smart locker manufacturers were able to achieve this objective by incorporating automatic opening of the locker doors with the help of a smartphone app.
From receiving automatic notifications about ready-to-pick deliveries to touchless locker doors that opened by using innovative solutions such as the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology, there is as little physical interaction involved as possible.