Koon's Watch

More of us are shopping online than ever before.

According to the US Department of Commerce, e-commerce sales grew 9 times faster than traditional in-store sales over the last 20 years.

Making purchases online might be your preferred way to handle your Christmas shopping, but having packages stolen from your porch should not be a part of your holiday plans.

In recent years, we’ve started calling those who steal packages from doorsteps “porch pirates.” The majority of American households have packages delivered on a regular basis, so the opportunities for porch pirates to strike are plentiful.

Take these 3 steps to guard your house against porch pirates:

1. Schedule deliveries for when you know you’ll be home. Most online retailers and some shipping companies offer a feature that enables you to select a specific date and time range when your package will be delivered.

2. Send your packages to your work address. If the boss will let you receive personal packages and your place of employment can receive and hold packages for you, this guarantees there’s always someone available to sign for valuable items and a safe, climate-controlled location to store your _| deliveries.

3. Send your packages to a

friend. At the very least, you can ask them to keep an eye out for your boxes and scoop them up for you if they see them before you.

The theft of a package from a doorstep is an old-fashioned crime of opportunity. The porch pirates can grab your stuff and be on their way in a matter of seconds.

Taking these steps reduces those opportunities. Don’t let thieves ruin the customer experience, or the gifting experience, by making it easy to steal your packages.