Amazon on Wednesday launched a new in-home delivery service for Prime members, dubbed Amazon Key.
"Amazon Key gives customers peace of mind knowing their orders have been safely delivered to their homes and are waiting for them when they walk through their doors," Amazon Vice President of Delivery Technology Peter Larsen said in a statement. "Now, Prime members can select in-home delivery and conveniently see their packages being delivered right from their mobile phones."
The service is launching on Nov. 8 in 37 cities across the US. Amazon Key deliveries will be available on "tens of millions of items sold on Amazon.com," the company said.
Those interested in trying it out will need to buy the Amazon Key In-Home Kit, which is available for pre-order now starting at $249.99 and includes Amazon's new Cloud Cam and a compatible smart lock by Yale, Kwikset, or another manufacturer. If you're handy, you can install everything yourself, or you can get it installed for free.
Once it's all set up, you'll just select the new "in-home" delivery option when buying something on Amazon. From there, you can use the Amazon Key app to track your deliveries with real-time notifications, then watch the drop off live, or review a video of what went down after it's all said and done.
"Each time a delivery driver requests access to a customer's home, Amazon verifies that the correct driver is at the right address, at the intended time, through an encrypted authentication process," Amazon explained in a news release. "Once this process is successfully completed, Amazon Cloud Cam starts recording and the door is then unlocked. No access codes or keys are ever provided to delivery drivers."
You can also use Amazon Key to let friends and family access your home without a key when you're not there. "Customers can set the frequency and length of time a person has access, and add or remove contacts as they see fit," Amazon wrote.
Plus, in the "coming months," you'll be able to schedule services with "thousands of providers" like maids, dog walkers, and pet sitters via Amazon Key.
Meanwhile, Amazon isn't the only company offering in-home deliveries. Walmart is currently testing a similar service with smart home device maker August and the same-day delivery service Deliv.