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As covered on this blog, online sellers and brick and motors continue a back and forth struggle for business. Recently, large retail sellers Amazon and Walmart have looked to add a new level of convenience to online shopping that could provide a breakthrough, if consumers are in fact open to the idea.
The companies have, and continue to work on, an idea for home delivery that allows their delivery person to enter the buyer’s home to deliver the goods, and even, in the case of groceries, to put them in the fridge for you.
This is certainly a natural step in the convenience journey that online shopping has been on. The question of course is whether consumers are willing to allow that kind of access for the added convenience. This seems to be a particularly interesting question in an age of companies like Facebook dealing with customers with huge privacy concerns.
Even the proposed solution to potential fears of what a delivery person might do in the customer’s home raises questions, perhaps even ones greater than those initially presented by the option. Amazon and Walmart allow for the delivery to be recorded in order for the customer to feel secure that nothing will happen in their home. However, the companies also get to retain a copy of the video for themselves.
It remains to be seen if these services will be successful, and, if so, how they could drive sales for consumers that seem ever ready for greater convenience in their shopping. Either way, the success or failure of these programs will tell us quite a bit about the future for online sellers and how much brick and mortars may need to continue to adapt to a changing marketplace.
Adding experienced business lawyers to your planning team can prevent legal missteps while adding the perspective and knowledge that comes from counseling many different companies over many business cycles.