Kinek offers secure prescription drop-off for online shoppers

June 14, 2012 12:18 am

By Molly Hensley-Clancy/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Anyone who has ever had a package stolen off the porch or come home to find a fifth missed-delivery notice on the door might appreciate the solution dreamed up by a start-up company out of New Brunswick, Canada.

Kinek, founded in 2009, is building a network of locations that online shoppers can use as a drop-off point, a place to send packages instead of risking that new dress or pricey gadget sitting outside for hours until someone gets home.

So far, the company has a network of more than 1,100 KinekPoints nationwide -- usually local businesses like pharmacies, flower shops and hardware stores -- that are willing to take deliveries and hold them until the recipients show up to collect the goods.

Med-Fast Pharmacy, a Beaver County company with 16 locations in Western Pennsylvania, was the first in the state to join the Kinek network in November.

After joining the site for free, Kinek members pick the KinekPoint closest to them and enter the business's address, rather than their own, in the checkout windows of online retailers. The service can be used at all sites, from Amazon to eBay.

Kinek users are notified of their package's delivery via the company's new mobile phone app, and the package is held securely at the KinekPoint for up to 30 days.

Some of the drop-off sites charge customers a pickup fee based on the package's weight; at other locations, like Med-Fast, the service is free.

The hope is, said Med-Fast Vice President Gino Cordisco, that the small inconvenience of signing for packages will be outweighed by increased foot traffic and additional sales, that will be driven as customers come into the pharmacies to pick up their packages. "It's a win-win for us," he said.

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Kinek offers secure prescription drop-off for online shoppers