Written by By Krissy Dolor, CNN
When Jon Jennings sent a box from Amazon’s Prime Now service to his home in the UK, he didn’t suspect what he was about to receive: a robotic package delivery system, capable of delivering one or two items to a customer’s door.
“I opened the door to this little contraption,” Jennings tells CNN. “It was delivered to the lounge. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It was a robot. I turned to my wife, and I was just like ‘I want this in my home.'”
More is in store for the tech future
According to Amazon, this little robotic package delivery system is a prototype: Prime Now delivers “a few items” through this sort of service.
So, who are these delivery robots? The company refuses to talk about them, but Amazon rep Rachel Sherman confirms that they are working on developing “an array of autonomous packages.”
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At first glance, a person can only imagine small robots communicating with Amazon’s in-house Prime Now employees, traveling around town searching for a home for the robot and delivering small items at an automated rate. Then, inevitably, the packages are transferred to humans for pickup, as they are with packages shipped by UPS, FedEx and the US Postal Service.
Though Jennings thought the one-off package delivery was a bit of a joke, he was pleasantly surprised to discover that Prime Now does deliver in several cities — including smaller towns — in the UK. Jennings quickly decided to order an Amazon Key system — the same kind of camera and sensor-based personal delivery service that the company made news for earlier this year.
Jennings plans to put Prime Now’s robots to use in his home. On its website, Amazon states: “We used [the robots] in small drones to deliver packages and people to the front door of his home.”
On the Prime Now app, the company suggests customers use these systems “as a substitute for door-to-door delivery.” Jennings tested it out.
“The robot did an absolute perfect job,” he says.
Once in the house, the robot delivered — according to Jennings’ estimate — 10 small items to his address. The items were packaged in yellow cardboard, covered with plastic. He says the robot was operating at about a 60-mph speed.
Though Jennings realized it was a package delivery system, he says that he wasn’t immediately suspicious because he didn’t receive a receipt.
“I thought it was a normal Amazon package delivery system,” he tells CNN.
The package delivery system was only sent to a slightly large house; Jennings says that if he had received a small package, the package delivery system would have had to be custom-sized.
Instead, Jennings noticed other Amazon Key-esque devices in the house, with self-directed motion sensors and similar designs.
“These other items, they’re like back doors, that all have sensors on the inside and one-way cameras on the outside of the house. I’m just like what the hell?” he says.
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From the edge of the sea to the bright light of the western world
In September, Amazon announced that it will invest $13.7 billion in its package delivery service in the coming two years. In addition to its Prime Now service, which has been active since 2014, the retailer will also introduce its own drone delivery system.
This follows a trend of e-commerce companies looking to improve the customer experience by adopting new methods.
In September, local retailers Galeries Lafayette and Printemps in Paris tried a machine that pairs a brick-and-mortar store with Amazon’s online shopping platform. Called FNAC Plus, the small, semi-autonomous delivery vehicle travels by stealth along the Parisian streets, delivering select items.
Meanwhile, last year Amazon debuted a drone delivery program called Amazon Key. First introduced in Britain, Amazon Key lets Prime customers who have purchased certain products package their own packages at home.
Prime customers can request delivery by phone, in person or by posting the item on Amazon’s website. The drone service has worked out so well that the service is now available in Seattle; Miami; Los Angeles; New York; Washington, DC; and Scottsdale, Arizona.