UPDATED 12:25 EDT / APRIL 24 2018

APPS

Amazon’s new shipping service will let users receive items in their car trunks

Amazon.com Inc. this morning launched Key In-Car, a novel package delivery option that it hopes will make online shopping even more convenient than it is now.

The service allows eligible Amazon Prime members throughout 37 U.S. cities to have items dropped off in their car trunks. It’s an extension of Amazon Key, a program introduced last year that lets the company’s couriers place packages inside participating users’ homes when they’re away to reduce the risk of theft.

A consumer interested in the latter service must buy a $250 kit from the retail giant that includes an Internet-connected security camera. Key In-Car, by contrast, only requires downloading the Amazon Key app. This should make it a more accessible alternative for consumers looking to safeguard their packages.

Key In-Connect is available for car owners with General Motors Co. and Volvo Corp. models from the past three years that support the automakers’ respective remote-control services. To sign up, users have to provide a description of their vehicles via the Key app. Equipped with this information, Amazon’s couriers can then unlock the trunk using a specialized app of their own.

The retail giant said it has several measures in place to ensure everything goes smoothly. Couriers have to verify that they have found the recipient’s car via their app, scan the parcel and then close the trunk before they can move on to the next delivery. All the while, users receive real-time updates about the status of their packages. 

Yet even with Amazon’s assurances, the service will likely still be met with skepticism by some consumers. This is particularly true given last year’s discovery of a major security vulnerability in the security camera that powers Amazon Key. In a demonstration, researchers showed that a courier could disable the device using a relatively simple script to enter a home unseen.

Another consideration is that Key In-Car has a raft of restrictions on user eligibility and what packages can delivered, which further limits its appeal. Amazon did say that it plans to expand the availability of the service over time by partnering with more automakers. But the fairly narrow range of situations in which most consumers would prefer having packages shipped to their trunk over their home likely means that Key In-Car is destined to remain a niche offering.

With that said, the service could still prove to be a valuable addition to Amazon’s value proposition. The fact that the retail giant offers a wide range of conveniences and perks for online shoppers is key to its ability to stay ahead in the fiercely competitive e-commerce market.

Image: Amazon

A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE:

Your vote of support is important to us and it helps us keep the content FREE.

One click below supports our mission to provide free, deep, and relevant content.  

Join our community on YouTube

Join the community that includes more than 15,000 #CubeAlumni experts, including Amazon.com CEO Andy Jassy, Dell Technologies founder and CEO Michael Dell, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, and many more luminaries and experts.

“TheCUBE is an important partner to the industry. You guys really are a part of our events and we really appreciate you coming and I know people appreciate the content you create as well” – Andy Jassy

THANK YOU