Concerns about the pandemic have consumers shopping more online. According to Adobe’s Digital Economy Index, online retail spend exceeded predictions for the March-June period by $77 billion. But concerns about package deliveries surfaced in the America at Home Study, an April 2020 survey of homeowners' post-coronavirus wish lists. The study found that residents prefer to not interact with delivery people and want a secure place for them to leave packages.
Even before the outbreak, package theft was a growing concern for online shoppers with thieves looking for packages on front porches or stoops. Some even follow delivery trucks and strike in broad daylight. And while missing packages happen year-round, they're worse during the holidays. In fact, a 2017 study by InsuranceQuotes.com found that 25.9 million Americans reported missing packages.
Manufacturers are trying to combat the problem with different solutions. One example is a steel vault bolted down with a hinged door for packages. But not everyone wants a big box in the yard and package sizes are limited. There are also hinged package doors that can be built into the side of the house, but these have drawbacks as well, most notably cost. "We looked into them but it's another selection the homeowner has to make and we were worried about security," says Tony Callahan, vice president of national purchasing at Shea Homes.
Amazon responded in 2019 with Key by Amazon In-Garage Delivery, which it developed together with LiftMaster and its parent company, Chamberlain Group, Inc. It's an add-on to myQ smart home technology, which is part of every LiftMaster garage door opener.
The myQ ecosystem already lets homeowners control their garage remotely via a smartphone app. Now, the homeowner can also opt in to allow Amazon delivery drivers to deliver packages securely into their garage. The homeowner receives a notification when the driver arrives and upon completion of the delivery. If the homeowner has a LiftMaster Smart Garage Camera or Secure View Opener, they can use the myQ App on their phone to watch the delivery.
Callahan says that Shea recently began offering the system to homeowners in a California pilot project. It has to be set up after the homeowners have moved in and the Wi-Fi is on, but the company already has a "white glove service" where they come back and set up smart home technologies. myQ and Key for Garage will be part of that smart home setup.
LiftMaster has also partnered with Yale on a myQ integrated smart door lock. When installed on the garage’s passage door, user setting in the myQ App can ensure that when an Amazon delivery occurs, the passage door to inside the home is automatically locked.
To take advantage of Key by Amazon In-Garage Delivery, homeowners need a myQ-powered garage door opener and an Amazon Prime account. With positive ratings and over a million successful in-garage deliveries, it’s an added bit of security that will give builders confidence when presenting it to customers.
For more information about the myQ ecosystem, visit myQ.com/Builder.
