Walmart on Friday announced plans for a new, in-home grocery delivery service that would allow the retailer to deliver items directly to a customer’s fridge or freezer, even when the customer isn’t home. The service, called InHome Delivery, works by way of smart entry technology combined with proprietary cameras worn by the delivery associates that let the customer closely watch the delivery take place.
As Walmart explains, the goal is to make it easier to shop for groceries online. Unlike packages, fresh, cold and frozen groceries can’t be left on the doorstep for hours.
…To use the InHome service when it becomes available, Walmart customers will shop online for groceries as they would normally, and then select the “InHome Delivery” at checkout and a day they want their order to arrive. At the time of delivery, the Walmart associate will use a smart entry device and will wear a camera device that Walmart describes only as proprietary technology.
This means customers don’t have to buy their own security camera system to take advantage of the service, as they would with Amazon’s keyless entry system, Key by Amazon, which requires customers have an Amazon Cloud Cam and a smart lock.
Walmart has not yet disclosed what sort of “smart entry” technology will be required — only that customers will be able to purchase a supported lock from Walmart. The smart lock function will work by way of a mobile app.
Customers can also watch the video of the delivery on their phone.
…Walmart notes that the delivery personnel will be Walmart-trained associates — not delivery pros from a third-party, like Deliv. These associates will learn how to organize food in the refrigerator as well as how to “enter customers’ homes with the same care and respect with which they would treat a friend’s or family’s home,” says Walmart U.S. eCommerce CEO Marc Lore.