Volvo grants etailers access to trunk of car

Digital key (of the future?)

Deliveries are one of the biggest issues with ecommerce as customers are not home when it gets delivered or the delivery point is closed when they arrive to pick up their delivery. Research has shown that more than 60 % of customers have encountered one of these situations.

There had to be a system where couriers could access the trunk of the customer’s car, in a 100 % safe way, without having to leave the car open or without having to hide the key somewhere. That is what they thought at Volvo and that is where a new digital key, which will be introduced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (24 to 27 February) comes into play, based on Volvo’s On Call-telematics.

It is quite simple in principle, because a customer merely has to check the box ‘delivery to my car’ when ordering online. When the product is ready for delivery and the customer confirms the delivery through his smartphone or tablet, the courier will get a notification with the location of the Volvo.

A new digital key, basically a code, will be generated and will allow access to the trunk. When the trunk is closed, the car will fully close off and the digital key will become invalid, while the customer will get confirmation that the delivery has arrived.

Time gain for everyone

“By turning the car into a pickup and drop-off zone through using digital keys, it’s now possible to deliver the goods to persons and not just places. The test-customers also indicated that the service clearly saved time. And the same thing is valid for delivery companies as well! Because failed first-time deliveries cost the industry an estimated €1billion in re-delivering costs”, Klas Bendrik, Chief Information Officer for Volvo Car Group, stated.

If and when digital keys will become part of the ecommerce sector, remains to be seen, but it is evident the system would increase the customer’s and etailer’s flexibility.