Kinek, a Canadian startup, is helping self-storage operators earn revenue by accepting and holding parcels for customers.

February 17, 2012

2 Min Read
Self-Storage Operators Become Parcel-Pickup Spots Through Kinek.com

A Canadian startup is helping self-storage operators earn revenue by accepting and holding parcels for customers.

Kinek.com has assembled a network of more than 1,000 pickup spots in the United States and Canada. The companys pickup locations, called KinekPoints, include self-storage operators and other retail companies. Kineks charges $1 per parcel to each partner KinekPoint. KinekPoints either recoup the fee through their own customer fees, or offer the service for free and consider the value of bringing a customer into their store to be worth Kineks fee. 

Kinek customers can register online and choose which KinekPoint to have their package delivered. Customers using bigger companies will receive a tracking app and a text message when the package arrives.

Much like offering rental trucks, retail products or other ancillary products and services, adding parcel pickup can increase a facilitys foot traffic. When businesses become KinekPoints, they typically see a boost in foot traffica lift which would otherwise require a significant marketing investment, said Kerry McLellan, CEO and founder of Kinek. Kinek has the ability to expose a business to new customers by making it convenient to utilize a particular facility to accomplish more than one task.

Location and extended hours make self-storage facilities ideal KinekPoints. We typically select facilities that have convenient operating hours and are in proximity to residential and commercial areas so that it would make sense for people to route their packages to a particular location, McLellan said.  A facility also needs to have the staff and capacity to support the intake of a medium volume of packages, and to be able to distribute them to their recipients when they come to pick them up.

Self-storage operators interested in becoming a KinekPoint, can contact [email protected]. A representative will walk operators through the process of becoming part of the network and answer any questions.

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