Amazon on Tuesday announced that its new service will be available to all its Prime members at places where grocery delivery is available, in more than 5,000 cities across the US. Till now this service was available only to Prime members living in Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, San Francisco, and Seattle.
The latest offering is a part and parcel of Amazon Key from among the company’s array of services. This new service allows delivery people to leave packages in garages, cars, homes, and businesses.
Customers will need to purchase additional hardware for the purpose of getting groceries or packages dropped off inside their garage or residence. To avail, the service of In-home delivery requires to have a smart lock and a camera, and a smart garage door opener is essential to avail service in-garage delivery.
Amazon has decided to pitch these services to its Prime members with the thought of keeping its groceries or packages safe from damage, weather, and theft. But these services have also given rise to concerns related to the prospect of giving a stranger person access even though it is a limited entry to one’s home or garage.
This latest move of Amazon is in response to the coronavirus pandemic since the pandemic has pushed more customers to try out ordering food packages or groceries online. Amazon’s online grocery sales tripled in the second quarter of last year and that continued to increase in the next two quarters also of last year.