Amazon said it is launching a new service that allows a driver to not only drop a package off at your doorstep, but to go inside your home – even when you are not there – to make a delivery.
CNET today reported that the tech giant’s new in-home delivery feature, Amazon Key, which was announced Wednesday on “Good Morning America,” lets customers opt to employ an app, a camera and a smart lock to oversee when parcels are delivered inside their homes.
“Amazon Key works with the company’s new Cloud Cam security camera, a smart door lock and the new Key app,” reads the report. “It will be available only for Prime members. Besides deliveries, the service can be used to let in guests and, in the coming months, will let customers schedule in-home visits from more than 1,200 businesses on Amazon Home Services, including house cleaners and dog walkers.”
Customers must install the Cloud Cam camera, and a proprietary, synced smart lock on their door of choice. Once a courier arrives, they are then able to unlock the door, and drop off the package. The camera records the whole time, to ensure peace of mind, and that the employee (or anyone else) doesn’t make his or herself at home.
There’s still a huge question mark over whether consumers are actually prepared to have delivery staff enter their homes, even if they do bear the gifts of consumerism. Amazon, however, doesn’t appear to think it’s a gimmick, but a key part of its offer in the future.
“This is not an experiment for us,” Peter Larsen, Amazon vice president of delivery technology, said. “This is a core part of the Amazon shopping experience from this point forward.”
Unfortunately, at this time there is no news on whether the company plans to roll out the service in Canada at some point in the future.
Click here to learn more about Amazon Key.
