Amazon can now deliver packages directly to your car if you own a specific model with available features and live in one of the 37 cities the service is available.
Amazon
  • Amazon can now deliver packages directly to the trunk of a car for owners of Volvo and GM models with an active Volvo On Call or OnStar subscription.
  • The service, known as Amazon Key In-Car, is available in 37 cities.
  • It follows the introduction of Amazon Key in-home delivery and continues the trend of Amazon looking for new ways to get packages to customers.
Last year, Amazon wanted to get into your house to deliver packages. Now it wants to deliver directly to the trunk of your car.
The online retailer has launched Amazon Key In-Car, which enables Amazon to deliver packages directly to the trunk of a customer's car.
The service is available to owners of Volvo and GM cars with a 2015 model year or newer who subscribe to Volvo On Call or OnStar. People can check their eligibility on the program's website.
Here's how it works:
  • Download the Amazon Key app and link it to your Volvo On Call or OnStar account.
  • When you shop on Amazon, select in-car delivery at checkout. Give Amazon the address where the car is parked, within a two-block radius. The website stipulates that deliveries "can only be made to a stationary car parked in an open, street-level, and publicly accessible area" — that can include a home or workplace.
  • Amazon provides a four-hour delivery window, usually 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for two-day delivery or 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. for same-day delivery.
  • The day of delivery, an Amazon driver finds the car via GPS. Before the driver can unlock the car with the app, Amazon verifies "the delivery driver, car, and driver location, and that the package was ordered with in-car delivery."
  • The driver will first try to fit the package in the trunk; if they can't, they'll put it in the cabin. (If the car is unavailable or has moved, Amazon will use the backup delivery option a customer specified.)
  • The app forces the driver to confirm the car is locked before they can leave for their next delivery.
  • Amazon sends a notification to the customer that the package was delivered.
There is no additional cost to use Amazon Key, though the service is limited to Prime subscribers.
"We were really happy with the response to in-home delivery," Peter Larsen, Amazon's head of delivery technology, told The Verge. "What we wanted to do — and it was part of the plan all along — is how we take that beyond the home."
Amazon says "tens of millions of items" are eligible for in-car delivery, as long as they weigh under 50 pounds, fit within size specifications, cost less than $1,300, and don't require a signature upon delivery.
Amazon says it is planning to work with other car manufacturers to roll out the service. Volvo and GM have a two-year contract with Amazon, a source told The Verge.
In-car delivery does not require the installation of extra equipment that Amazon's Key's in-home delivery did, which could make it more attractive to customers. But it does require a subscription to Volvo On Call or OnStar, which could be an added cost for those who don't have either now.