Seattle-based eCommerce firm; Amazon Inc is one of the biggest eCommerce firms in the world. Earlier this week, the company become the second American company after Cupertino-based tech firm, Apple Inc. to cross that once-unimaginable line; USD$1 trillion share value. Quoting the New York Times, ‘Amazon’s shares rose as high as USD$2,050.50 on Tuesday morning, pushing it over USD$1 trillion in value, before immediately falling back and then ending the day at USD$2,039.51, below the USD$1 trillion threshold.’
This article isn’t the company’s share value, but rather their delivery option, dubbed, the In-Home Delivery. In simple terms, Amazon delivers your packages right inside your house. This, to avoid thieves, or the weather; rain, storm, you name it.
Let’s explain this further.
According to online media reports, Amazon announced the delivery option back in October of 2017. Whereas some of the audience saw it ‘creepy’ to let ‘strangers’ in their house, some saw it has an opportunity – this for those that live in neighborhoods with a lot of thieves. On the part of letting strangers out is ‘not the word’. The delivery guys literally push the door a few inches to place in your package minus entering your house. It’s only if the recipient order for a lot of products that will require the delivery guy to enter to place in the package far from the door as not to block it.
To achieve this, one has to buy the Amazon’s Key In-House Kit that costs about USD$249.99, and includes; Amazon’s Compatible Digital Smart Locks (USD$149.99 if you’re buying separately) and Amazon’s Cloud Cam (USD$119.99 if you’re buying separately). Then Amazon sends someone to your house to install them at no cost. Once done, if you’re buying something and choose In-Home as a delivery option, on time of delivery, the Amazon’s Delivery Personal uses the a specific app from the company that grants them one time access to open the door, places the package inside and then locks the door with the same app. Once the delivery person opens your door through the app, the home owner gets a notification in form of a live video feed which is also archived online for security purposes.
Some of the biggest concerns we looked at;
What if there’s no power at home? Then probably your package will be placed outside your door where you will have to find it in case no one attempts on taking it.
What if your lock in hacked? In this digital era, anything connected to the Internet can be hacked. But once your door is locked, you still get a notification via a live video feed. If you didn’t order anything to have delivered to your place, your should probably call 911.
What if your lock jams admits locking it? Geoffrey Folwer; Technology Columnist at the Washington Post, who was reviewing this feature, had his lock jam during one of his In-Home delivery. And according to him, quote, said the company claimed the problem could have been during the installation process. He further noted that the delivery person found how to resolve the problem which in the end did work out. However, this still worries many a lot.
What if the delivery guy goes beyond where the camera is placed? The Amazon Cloud Cam is likely positioned over the doorway. But if someone steps out of the narrow frame of the camera, then homeowners will have no idea what the person is doing in the house.
Notably, according to Geoffrey, Amazon isn’t just trying to fight package thieves but wants to draw its customers further into an all-Amazon world. The company begun with likes of Alexa, then the Amazon Fire TV, now its Amazon In-Home Delivery.
What are your thoughts on this, let us know in the comment section below!
