A Swedish grocery chain wants your smart lock key so it can deliver groceries to your fridge

By Bruce Brown April 27, 2016

Whether you love to grocery shop or not, there are times when having your purchases brought to your home sure would be convenient… unless you have to schedule your life around the delivery. A new grocery service in Sweden is testing out not only delivering food but packing everything away in the owner’s refrigerator.

The three companies in this delivery service pilot program are smart home startup Glue, Sweden’s largest grocery chain ICA, and the Nordic region’s largest logistics and communications company PostNord. The service would only get groceries as far as the porch if it weren’t for the Glue smart lock. The shopper orders from ICA and also provides a one-time digital key for the lock via the Glue smartphone app. The driver gets the key, which is valid only during the specified window of time.

The PostNord delivery person uses the digital key to open the lock, brings the groceries inside, and then puts everything that needs chilling in the refrigerator. When the driver leaves and sets the lock, the homeowner is notified in the smartphone app that the delivery is complete and the door is locked.

The idea of someone you don’t know entering your home when you’re is probably unsettling to a lot of people, so a major element of the pilot test program is the human factor. “Not only does this partnership take delivery services to the next level, it ‘unlocks’ the force of the on-demand economy and encourages people to think differently when it comes to opening up their homes for services that make everyday life easier,” said Glue CEO Carl Johan Grandinson said.

It’s certainly not that far-fetched to imagine installing motion-activated video cameras in other areas of your home that send an alert if strangers venture beyond the kitchen. (One day, Glue might have some it would be willing to sell you.)

The next smart home step would be a refrigerator that can scan grocery codes to create menus and recipes. If it could also track usage and know when to order again and set up the next delivery, as well as send another digital key code for delivery, the circle would be complete.

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Digital Trends Contributing Editor Bruce Brown is a member of the Smart Homes and Commerce teams. Bruce uses smart devices…

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