Is Amazon creating the most convenient delivery ever?

Gone are the days of waiting around at home all day for your parcel, or worse still, getting the dreaded ‘sorry we missed you’ slip.

Now shoppers can collect their online purchases from a plethora of different places, including the store they ordered from, local convenience shops, lockers at petrol stations, train stations, gyms – the list goes on.

Click and collect has proven so transformative that 53% of John Lewis’ online orders are now delivered this way.

As ever, Amazon is planning to push the boundaries of click and collect further. The ecommerce giant is exploring using systems that will allow its drivers to drop off packages inside shoppers’ homes or inside their car boots.

Amazon is developing a smart doorbell device that would give delivery drivers one-time access to a shoppers’ home to drop off their parcels, according to reports.

The etailer is also understood to be in advanced talks to partner with Phrame, which makes smart license plates, to allow similar access to car boots.

Is click and collect really convenient?

Amazon’s delivery masterplan got me thinking – is click and collect really convenient?

I use click and collect a lot. In fact, I’m on first-name terms with the owner of my local newsagent – hi Mohammed, if you’re reading – where my regular stream of Asos parcels are delivered.

However – and disclaimer: I am the height of millennial lazy – sometimes my parcels are waiting days before I get around to making the 10-minute walk to the shop to collect them.

Click and collect might be popular, but is that what customers really want? Or do we choose click-and-collect because there is no fulfilment option that delivers parcels safely and securely to our homes when we’re not in?

So-called porch pirates – criminals that steal parcels left outside of houses – are rife. A recent survey by Shorr Packaging Corp found that almost a third of US shoppers have had a package stolen.

If I had my own personal collection locker outside my front door, I’m sorry but I’d rarely see Mohammed.

The most convenient delivery is one that involves no effort whatsoever. Even if that effort is just a 10-minute walk up the road.

So while many will feel uncomfortable allowing Amazon workers access to their home or car, the etailer should be applauded for thinking of new ways to take even the smallest hassle out of parcel collection.