Unlike in-home delivery, which consumers consider quite intrusive, the car trunk seems to be an acceptable location for many consumers. The tests in Europe, first by Volvo and then by Amazon with Audi and Daimler, were generally considered successful. Given the American car culture and our dependence on driving to work, this may be even more attractive to all but the urban public transport commuter.

This idea appears to have limited value and smacks of an attempt to push the envelope to the point of creating a frantic environment. Society doesn’t need all that immediacy. Is it worth the effort?

Fortunately I have never had that be an issue but I understand that porch pirates are a serious issue for retailers and purchasers. Will the alternatives mentioned replace leaving packages unattended? The short answer is no. However they will be part of the home delivery ecosystem. The issue for some home owners will be, does the added cost of the securing technology outweigh the risk and inconvenience of potentially having an item taken?

This is a good solution and is part of a raft of initiatives around improving delivery, which has always been the Achilles’ heel of online retail. More flexibility with delivery will likely stimulate demand as according to our research there is a large body of consumers who don’t use online more because they dislike packages being left outside their homes.

Haven’t I read that some houses are being built with lockers which allow access from the outside as well as inside of the house? This is a great concept for many purposes in addition to home delivery. But for those who don’t have a new house with a locker, let’s think about some kind of shed. I’m just not of the opinion that many folks will want delivery people inside their homes. Car trunks? That is OK but again, puts car theft at risk. What have we become now when one of the biggest issues Amazon has to think about is how to get that package the last mile? Sad but true. And that’s my 2 cents.

Porch privacy is not only a problem for the actual delivery of products, but it causes the consumer to be wary of future deliveries. My mail was stolen from a public mail box area a few weeks ago, and my neighbors and I are being more careful about what gets put in the outbound mailboxes and which products are delivered to the inbound mail boxes. There will be more secure deliveries done in the future as the technology to support it become cheaper and more ubiquitous.

Until recently, porch theft was not truly a concern for most retailers, but the last 2 years have certainly changed this. Personally, I can even vouch for this rise. However, this is not just about security of access but security of data as well.

Larger and larger issues with breeches in Big Data storage have allowed increased access to customers’ personal information so that online orders can be initiated and sent to a customer’s house, where the false customer is waiting close by to pick up whatever deliveries are arriving that day before the homeowner returns. Securing the delivery place helps, but unauthorized transactions using stolen data and IDs are where everything starts. Secure the data first, then secure the placement of the deliveries. We cannot put the cart before the horse.

Who’s fault is it when the deliver appears to not show up? The retailer sent it out, but it could have been lost or stolen. Once that retailer turns it over to the shipper, does that mean they are no longer responsible? As a lawyer I could argue that might be true. As a retailer you own the problem, because it comes back to you. Are you really going to say, “Call the police. Not our problem. We see that it was dropped off yesterday at 4:00.”? NO! You are going to accept that you want to do business with them again and you will either ship another product and/or work with them and whoever else may be able to help (the shipper, authorities, etc.) to get them their product.

So, the in-home or in-trunk is a brilliant solution. Kudos to major retailers like Amazon and Walmart who are resolving the security issue of the last-mile.