Students, faculty and staff can now use on-campus Amazon Lockers for picking up and returning Amazon packages 24/7.
There are currently four active locker locations on campus, with three more locations coming soon. Current locations include the Pendleton Street garage, outside of the Enrollment Services Center, outside of the Close-Hipp Building off College Street and outside of the Coliseum.
These lockers come as the student package pickup is relocated to the Coliseum until spring 2021.
Barry Meyers, the director of USC postal and passport services, said students should use these lockers “for ease of use" and “for security.”
"You receive that notification on your email or on your cell phone, it's a personal transaction now between you and Amazon. And, I guess, once it’s used once or twice, it’ll become a lot more routine,” Meyers said.
The process begins when an order is made through the Amazon website or app. Students add the locker they wish to pick up from to their shipping addresses and select it at checkout. Once the package has been delivered, Amazon will send a six-digit code via email. Students can choose whether to scan or manually enter their code to get their package. Students can use whichever locker they please.
Meyers said the new lockers will make the first-year experience "much easier" for new students getting used to the university.
"We realized, especially during the first few weeks of school, it's very hard for students to get their packages between going to class, running their new schedules and finding their way from Capstone to the Russell House. It's a challenge,” Meyers said.
Some boxes will be too large for the Amazon Lockers, in which case the lockers will not be presented as a shipping option at checkout. Packages not picked up from the lockers within two days will be returned and refunded.
Hannah Prince, a first-year undecided student, said she has used the locker outside of Close-Hipp multiple times already and will continue to do so.
“It’s a much quicker walk here than to the Coliseum, so that’s why I use it all the time,” Prince said.
Amazon's data shows the majority of students pick up their packages between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. While the student mailroom closes at 5 p.m., lockers will be available to use 24/7.
Meyers said he has been working to bring the Amazon Locker program to USC for a couple of years. The number of packages received by the student mailroom has increased from the mid-30s to 130,000 packages a school year. Meyers said out of the 130,000 packages they receive, 30% come directly from Amazon.
The lockers were provided by Amazon at no additional cost to the university. USC dedicated the space and electricity for the lockers, while Amazon supplied the electricians, installation team and tech support, according to Meyers in an email. Amazon will also be in charge of maintaining the lockers.
William Copeland, the manager of the student mail center in Russell House and the Coliseum, said there have been adjustments made in the Russell House mailroom to accommodate the influx of packages, including an additional pickup window.
“When we first moved down there, we wanted everything over the counter,” Copeland said. “But that version’s grown so much, there’s no way we could do that now.”
Students can expect three additional Amazon Locker locations to be available soon. One behind Russell House, one outside of the Byrnes Building in front of the Horseshoe and one at 1600 Hampton St.