Mobile By Matthew Humphries Feb. 21, 2014 7:32 am
Online shopping has become so popular so quickly because it is both very convenient and ultimately cheaper than visiting a physical store. But there is one part of the online shopping process that can be annoying: receiving your goods.
A lot of e-tailers will ship your goods without a delivery charge attached, but they can only specify a delivery window, not a specific time they will arrive on your doorstep. Typically, a signature is required, meaning someone has to be in to answer the door. Even if no signature is necessary, the delivery person can’t leave an item unless it is secured somewhere.
There are ways around this, such as asking a neighbor to take the package, but that only works at home. What if you want the package delivered somewhere else? Volvo thinks it has solved that problem by enabling deliveries to be made to your unattended car.
Volvo has introduced the concept of single-use digital keys to its cars alongside a new service called Roam Delivery. It works as follows: when you place an online order you select your car as the delivery destination. Your car then becomes a delivery hotspot that is tracked by the delivery company, which for now, is Roam Delivery. When a delivery is set to be made your car is located and an alert is sent to the owner. You then issue the delivery person with a single use digital key that allows the car to be opened.
Once a delivery has been made the digital key expires and the car can’t be reopened. The owner can also adjust the temperature in the car remotely, meaning if food has been delivered it’s easy to keep it cool.
By making the car the delivery location, and even the pick-up location in some scenarios, it frees up the customer and cuts down on wasted time by the delivery company. Of course, it relies on the delivery person being honest and not stealing your car or the possessions in it, but you’d think their continued employment would make such an act unthinkable.
Volvo is set to demonstrate the digital key system at the Mobile World Congress next week, and I’m sure companies including Amazon will show a keen interest in possibly deploying it as a new service.
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A lot of e-tailers will ship your goods without a delivery charge attached, but they can only specify a delivery window, not a specific time they will arrive on your doorstep. Typically, a signature is required, meaning someone has to be in to answer the door. Even if no signature is necessary, the delivery person can’t leave an item unless it is secured somewhere.
There are ways around this, such as asking a neighbor to take the package, but that only works at home. What if you want the package delivered somewhere else? Volvo thinks it has solved that problem by enabling deliveries to be made to your unattended car.
Volvo has introduced the concept of single-use digital keys to its cars alongside a new service called Roam Delivery. It works as follows: when you place an online order you select your car as the delivery destination. Your car then becomes a delivery hotspot that is tracked by the delivery company, which for now, is Roam Delivery. When a delivery is set to be made your car is located and an alert is sent to the owner. You then issue the delivery person with a single use digital key that allows the car to be opened.
Once a delivery has been made the digital key expires and the car can’t be reopened. The owner can also adjust the temperature in the car remotely, meaning if food has been delivered it’s easy to keep it cool.
By making the car the delivery location, and even the pick-up location in some scenarios, it frees up the customer and cuts down on wasted time by the delivery company. Of course, it relies on the delivery person being honest and not stealing your car or the possessions in it, but you’d think their continued employment would make such an act unthinkable.
Volvo is set to demonstrate the digital key system at the Mobile World Congress next week, and I’m sure companies including Amazon will show a keen interest in possibly deploying it as a new service.
More...
