Amazon is exploring ways to deliver items to your car trunk and the inside of your home
Amazon is exploring ways to deliver items to your car
trunk and the inside of your home
Amazon is in advanced talks with Phrame, a smart license
plate maker, to ship packages to your car's trunk, CNBC has learned.
The company is also developing a smart doorbell device
for safe delivery to the home, sources said.
Amazon is attacking 'porch pirates,' who steal packages
from doorsteps.
Eugene Kim & Christina Farr Published 1 Hour Ago Updated
37 Mins Ago CNBC.com
Amazon has almost perfected speedy delivery to your home.
Now the company is working to make sure your packages get inside the front
door, or even into your car.
The company is in advanced talks to forge a partnership
with Phrame, a maker of smart license plates that allow items to be delivered
to a car's trunk, according to a person with knowledge of the potential deal.
Phrame's product fits around a license plate and contains a secure box that
holds the keys to the car. Users unlock the box with their smartphone, and can
grant access to others -- such as delivery drivers -- remotely.
At the same time, Amazon is developing a smart doorbell
device that would give delivery drivers one-time access to a person's home to
drop off items, said two people familiar with the matter. The sources asked not
to be named because the discussions are confidential.
The new initiatives are part of Amazon's effort to go
beyond convenience and fix problems associated with unattended delivery. As
more consumers shop online and have their packages shipped to their homes,
valuable items are often left unattended for hours. Web retailers are dealing
with products getting damaged by bad weather as well as the rise of so-called
porch pirates, who steal items from doorsteps. Amazon also has an incentive to
reduce the number of lost packages, as they can be costly.
"Unattended delivery is the least desirable of
last-mile fulfillment options as it leaves the package exposed to all kinds of
risk," said Natalie Berg, an analyst at Planet Retail RNG. "It's not
just the financial cost but also the impact that a failed delivery can have on
brand reputation and customer loyalty. Nothing makes shoppers more irate than
missing a delivery."
Amazon, UPS and other delivery companies don't disclose
data on lost packages. But according to the smart doorbell maker August, 11
million U.S. homeowners had a package stolen in 2016, and a survey by Shorr
Packaging showed 31 percent of U.S. shoppers have experienced package theft.
Videos of package theft are all over the internet. In one
instance, a UPS delivery person was caught on camera stealing a FedEx package
sitting in front of a house. In August, the U.S. postal service suspended
deliveries in the south side of Milwaukee after a series of package thefts in
the area.
While we didn't get specific details of the potential
Phrame partnership or the smart doorbell, both would likely offer a way for
delivery people to drop off items using a temporary code. Phrame products could
possibly be offered to Prime members for free, making in-trunk delivery
available to Amazon's most frequent shoppers, a source said. Another source
said the doorbell could be used for grocery delivery. The Financial Times
previously reported on a similar product.
Phrame declined to comment for this story. Amazon also
declined to comment.
Amazon has sought a number of different options to reduce
unattended delivery. Amazon Lockers have opened in over 2,000 locations to give
customers a safe pick-up spot for packages. The company also has a locker
service called The Hub for residential apartment buildings.
Most recently, Amazon rolled out "Photo on
Delivery," a service that sends a photo of your delivered package to your
phone.
Growing problem
Amazon has also previously experimented with in-trunk
delivery. In 2015, it ran a pilot program for Audi owners in Germany, and the
following year tested a service with DHL and Daimler in the same region.
Unattended deliveries have become such a headache in
recent years that a new industry has emerged around package protection. Smart
doorbell maker Ring lets homeowners monitor their front porch, and Mail Haven
makes smart mail boxes to protect packages. Last month, Wal-Mart announced an
in-home delivery service in partnership with smart doorbell maker August.
Michael Grabham is the founder of Package Guard, an alarm
device that alerts consumers and their neighbors to package theft. He said that
package theft is likely to get worse because it's a quick and easy crime to commit.
"There will be more technology solutions that emerge
to solve this problem as the problem grows," he said.
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