Walmart is testing a new service in the US that means that you can have your online ordered groceries delivered straight into your fridge.They’re working with August Home, a San Francisco-based firm who develop smart locks and other smart home accessories, who are working with a small group of households to prove the concept.
The trial is currently limited to shoppers in the Menlo Park area and here’s how it works. Shoppers place an order with Walmart.com for items as usual. That consignment will then be collected and delivered by same-day-delivery provider Deliv. Here’s where it gets interesting.
If noone is home, or they have been advised that the house is unattended, the deliverer can use a one-time, preauthorized passcode to enter and complete the delivery. Shoppers will be automatically advised when their front door has been used and the delivery made.
Walmart says of the development: “We asked the question: ‘What if Walmart could help busy families like mine ensure my fridge was always well stocked? What if we created a service that not only did my grocery shopping and brought everything to my home, but even went so far as to put it directly into my fridge? And, what if it was even more convenient because this “in-fridge delivery” happened while I was at work or off doing other things?’ These tests are a natural evolution of what Walmart is all about – an obsession in saving our customers not just money but also time, making our customers’ lives easier in the process. What might seem novel today could be the standard tomorrow.”
Needless to say there are a myriad of questions that present themselves when you consider the notion of grocery delivery that brings the courier, not only into your home, but also into the kitchen to deliver the goods.
Obviously, as technology develops, you will be able to track such an incursion. Indeed, today, you could watch the delivery going on via webcam. And as the internet of things advances, you will be able to more keenly monitor what goes on in your house even more effectively. But is this a system you could readily trust?
