» You’ve got mail:
System aims to reduce theft of shipments left on the porch
The new Amazon Key lets delivery drivers leave packages inside people’s front doors.
SAN FRANCISCO - No more getting packages stolen. No more worries about being there to receive them. Starting next month, people in 37 U.S. cities can have Amazon drop their packages inside the front door, without ever giving anyone a key.
On Nov. 8, Amazon will begin offering a secure-lock service, called Amazon Key, that will give Amazon Logistics delivery personnel permission to unlock a customer’s door for 5 minutes. Using a new Amazon device, the Cloud Cam, the entire delivery will be live-streamed to the customer’s devices and also sent as a video snippet.
The service is an effort to thwart one of the problems of Amazon’s popular package delivery service — package theft — as well as give users “choice, peace of mind and convenience,” in the words of Peter Larsen, Amazon’s vice president for delivery technology.
The company has been testing Amazon Key for several months at various sites around the country and thinks it’s going to be a gamechanger. “This is not a trial. This is the fundamental way we think customers are going to order and receive their goods,” Larsen said.
The new service could represent a shift in how consumers think of Amazon. Not just as the source of packages left on their porch, but as an entity they’re comfortable letting into their homes.