In-home delivery – the future of online shopping

Who isn’t familiar with those yellow, white or blue notes on your front door or in your mailbox? You know immediately that the package you were expecting was delivered (or rather: not delivered) when you weren’t at home. This inconspicuous little delivery note does more than just cause additional work for you. The delivery service also incurs additional costs, as the parcel has to be stored again until it is collected.

Online shopping is booming

The turnover of online shopping has increased dramatically over the last few years. In addition to general changes in purchasing behaviour, this is also due to worldwide lockdowns and pandemic-related store closures. Over 12 billion parcels were delivered across Europe in 2019. For some time now, the biggest challenge in online shopping has no longer been the shopping process itself, but rather finding the most convenient and simple way of delivering goods.

Huge potential for in-home delivery

When it comes to delivering parcels, the final stretch is the most difficult. This is because directly transporting the parcel to the recipient is particularly complex and cost-intensive. That’s why people have been searching for more efficient delivery solutions for years that make it more cost-effective for the delivery service and more convenient for the customer receiving the shipment.

In-home delivery – the smart parcel delivery solution

A representative market study from 2020 showed that more than 50% of those surveyed wished service providers were better at sticking to the delivery time window or that in-home delivery were an option. In addition, the majority of all users stated they would like to be able to set custom delivery times. However, since delivery routes are always planned as short and efficient as possible from a logistical point of view, this automatically leads to higher costs.

The solution is a smart and recipient-independent service that delivers packages inside your home – in-home delivery.

How does this smart delivery service behind the house/apartment door work?

Even if the term in-home delivery sounds very complex at first, the technical requirements are very straightforward. First of all, you have to enable the parcel courier to open your door (of course without issuing keys). An electronic door lock, such as the Nuki Smart Lock, is usually used here. With this smart locking system, time-restricted access permissions can be assigned to the courier. With this individual access code you can limit the courier’s access to your door to certain times on weekdays, for example. If you do not want to give the courier their own access permission, this step can also be replaced by a video doorbell. In this case, the courier rings the smart doorbell and can then communicate directly with the recipient. The recipient decides whether to open the door remotely using a smartphone or to ask the delivery service to leave the parcel in front of the door. If the Smart Lock has been linked to the video doorbell – as for example, with Nuki and Ring – the door can even be controlled directly from the Ring app. The height of convenience!

If the parcel is being delivered directly inside your house or apartment, you can also use an indoor camera. This documents the entire process and offers extra protection in the event of an insurance claim. Once the parcel has been successfully delivered, the courier closes the door when they leave and the electronic door lock automatically locks the door again.

Experience and an eye for innovation

When it comes to deliveries directly inside your home, trust is always key: Trust in the delivery service and the technical solution. Here it is advisable to rely on established companies that have developed and successfully implemented appropriate solutions over a longer period of time.

In-home delivery with Nuki, A1 and Österreichische Post

A recent example is the cooperation with Österreichische Post and the telecommunications provider A1. In the summer, Österreichische Post is testing contactless in-home delivery in selected regions of Austria. The possibility of contactless in-home delivery is set to increase the already high first delivery rate even further, explains Peter Umundum, Head of the Parcel & Logistics Division at Österreichische Post. Thanks to the company’s own encryption system and the additional protection of the security package from A1, the delivery of the parcel is absolutely secure and documented for later analysis. Well over 1,000 people applied for this trial within the first 24 hours. The final selection for the in-home delivery trial will be made by Österreichische Post itself over the next few weeks based on the regions and delivery districts.

Nuki, Zalando and the Belgian postal service

The Belgian postal service has already carried out a similar test run alongside Zalando. Customers who ordered from the online fashion shop benefited from direct parcel delivery inside their home. On top of that, they were able to have all the garments that didn’t fit picked up again – contactless and convenient.
For the purposes of this trial, the houses were equipped with a video doorbell from Nest so that the participants could communicate with the courier before opening the door remotely using the Nuki Smart Lock. At the same time, the delivery could be tracked in an app.

From the fridge aisle to your home fridge – supermarket shopping on a new level

The example of Nuki’s collaboration with the largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands goes to show that it doesn’t always have to be just packages: Albert Heijn. One of the top five reasons customers are hesitant to order groceries online is the need to be at home for delivery. That’s why Albert Heijn tested this new method of food delivery over a period of 8 weeks. Afterwards, potential areas in need of improvement were evaluated, in consultation with the customers, in order to be able to act as a pioneer in the field of in-home delivery in the future.

The alternative: Doorstep delivery – with the Nuki Opener

Of course, it is understandable if you don’t want to give every delivery person access to your home. Especially, if you’re ordering through a delivery service that you don’t otherwise use. Doorstep delivery is a good alternative if you live in an apartment building. In this case, your package will not be delivered to your apartment, but will be left in front of your apartment door. To ensure the deliverer has access to your building, you can simply use the Nuki Opener and set the continuous mode for the delivery time window. The courier can then open the door to your building with the bell and drop the parcel in front of your apartment door. They do not need an access permission for this, as they can simply open the main door to your apartment building by ringing the bell. In the Nuki app, you can set up a notification on your smartphone as soon as the front door has been opened by the courier.