UPS launches new pilot project

Author: Dimitri Lagun
Date: 20.07.2018

Package delivery in residential building

UPS has started a new pilot project in New York City. With new Latch Smart Access devices, it will now be possible for delivery companies to deliver packages directly to customers’ homes. The new system is reminiscent of Amazon’s offer “Amazon Key”.

Introduced in October 2017, Amazon Key allows parcel carriers to automatically enter the recipients’ homes so they can place their parcels there. The British online magazine edelivery.net now reported that the UPS package service also started with this new system. However, here the parcels are delivered only to the residential buildings and not directly to the apartments of the receivers.

Currently the procedure is still in the test phase. In the beginning, deliveries via Latch Smart Access devices, which give parcel carriers access to multi-family homes, was only possible in Manhattan. Now the offer should also be extended to Brooklyn.

Access to the houses is made possible by smart locks. Jerome Roberts, Vice President of Global Product Innovation for UPS, comments: “The use of smart locks on rental and condominium doors is a major step forward in the parcel delivery business. Intelligent locks give us a keyless way to deliver packages to buildings and leave them safely in lobbies or designated places. Our customers can be sure that their package will be waiting for them when they get home.”

Although there is a similarity to Amazon’s “Amazon Key,” UPS insures that the smart locks are only used to enter the buildings, not the homes of the recipients. This decision could be a reaction to the bad rating of “Amazon Key”. The Amazon Watchblog reported that most of the US users of “Amazon Key” were not satisfied with the service. According to a survey by market research firm InsuranceQuotes around 80 percent of consumers are worried that an Amazon key courier might steal something from their apartment while delivering the package.