Fetch Solves Package Problems for Student Housing

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Jan 23, 2024, 10:00 ET

Third-party, offsite package solution tailored for student housing properties eliminates package clutter and management challenges

AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Fetch, the first and only offsite package management solution for apartment communities, today announced an initiative to solve the unique package management issues facing student housing operators.

Multifamily operators with both market rate and student housing communities in their portfolios estimate their student housing properties receive between 30% and 50% more packages. The increased volume due to climbing ecommerce rates creates significant issues with package storage and clutter, and package management responsibilities consume an inordinate amount of time for onsite teams. At student housing communities, the issues are exacerbated during move-in periods and semester starts.

Fetch, which receives and stores packages offsite and works with residents through an app to coordinate direct-to-door delivery, is taking aim at solving student housing package challenges and seeking to educate operators on the benefits of third-party, offsite package management.

"Students buy everything online, and with Fetch anything students order, with very few exceptions, goes through us," said Fetch CEO Michael Patton. "The package volume at student housing communities outpaces the space that can be allocated to lockers or package rooms. Student housing also experiences unique resident move-in and move-out cycles that overwhelm on-site solutions. Fetch can scale up to any package volume at any time, accommodating the fluctuating dynamics of package management that student housing faces and relieving that burden from onsite teams."

The periodic waves of packages during move-ins, spring break, winter break and semester starts pushes the problem over the top. Students arriving for the start of the year or semester prefer to ship all necessary items, particularly since airlines started charging for checked and carry-on bags, creating an overwhelming package influx for properties to manage.

"Today's era of convenience, with online shopping and 24-hour delivery, has changed the way college students are living and their expectations when it comes to property management," said Laura Formica, senior managing director of operations at Core Spaces, a leading multifamily owner, developer, and operator with a student housing portfolio of over 35,000 beds across the country. "We always strive to offer a hospitality-driven resident experience, and we wanted to adapt our operations to better serve our residents. We found a solution with Fetch to help manage the growing volume of packages and make our process more efficient, which in turn allows our community teams to focus on other priorities."

Fetch's last-mile delivery solution is uniquely suited to student housing, allowing residents to ship items to its warehouse and have them held until a resident schedules delivery, eliminating the package pile-up. Fetch already serves student housing communities in several of its markets and is looking to expand service to additional college towns.

"Our 25 current markets are bigger MSAs, which have a lot of student overlap," Patton said. "Moving forward, we're striving to grow our student housing vertical and we're assessing our options in a lot of those Power 5 conference cities. Fetch is looking to expand our footprint in 5-10 new collegiate markets for the 2025-26 school year."

About Fetch
Fetch makes apartment package delivery convenient, reliable, and enjoyable for residents and onsite teams alike. To date, Fetch Package Inc. has delivered over 28 million packages to residents of apartment communities with a last-mile delivery platform designed to scale with growing e-commerce trends. Fetch completely solves multifamily's resident package problem by moving packages offsite and coordinating delivery directly with residents. The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas, operates in more than 25 major markets across the United States and supports more than 385K apartment homes in over 1,100 communities. For more information, visit fetchpackage.com/student-housing and follow us on LinkedIn.

SOURCE Fetch Package