Consumers Not Cool With Strangers in Their Fridge
By Jackson Lewis on Sep. 25, 2017BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- In its quest to offer the most convenient delivery experience, Wal-Mart may have gone too far. At least many consumers commenting on the retailer’s test of direct-to-fridge delivery seem to think so.
Wal-Mart has partnered with home-security companies, including August Home, to allow delivery workers to enter customers’ homes whether they are there or not, and place groceries directly into the customer’s fridge. The program is undergoing testing exclusively for participating customers in Silicon Valley.
Painstakingly careful steps have been taken by Wal-Mart to ensure that the process is transparent and to assure participating customers that nothing is being forced on them. Users of the fridge delivery program have the means to track their delivery person’s every move once they enter their home. Multiple notifications are sent straight to their phone during every step of the process. The Wal-Mart blog post announcing the service makes it clear the service is just a test and is not meant for everyone.
Even so, the reaction online has been furious. Has Wal-Mart overstepped its bounds as it explores ways to outdeliver Amazon? What does this latest development in the redefinition of convenience mean for convenience stores? Click through for more on Wal-Mart’s controversial move …
In a perfect world
The blog post announcing the delivery test includes a YouTube video portraying a busy working woman ordering and tracking the direct-to-fridge service. The message is clear: You, the consumer, are busy. Wal-Mart is taking your groceries straight to your fridge so you don’t have to. That’s how it’s meant to be seen, anyway.
But some customers are having trouble seeing it as such, even in the comments section of Wal-Mart’s own blog. “Uhhhh, not to be that guy but … what is wrong with you?” wrote one reader. “I don’t want someone coming into my apartment while I’m not there. That’s nuts.”
Another commenter suggests the service is simply being marketed to the wrong crowd. “Great ideas. However, in my opinion, you are ignoring an obvious large population that needs [and] wants this type of service now…. Include seniors who may be limited in some way [and] very often curtail their shopping at Wal-Mart for a myriad of reasons,” they wrote.
It’s not me, it’s you
Some commenters are simply upset at the thought of Wal-Mart employees entering their home.
“There is not a chance in hell I would let them in my house when I am not home!” wrote a Facebook user on Business Insider’s post on the subject. “Seriously, WORST customer service!”
Similarly, one user wrote on Twitter, “So Wal-Mart wants to do in-home delivery … who ... is going to trust their employees going into homes and not stealing anything.” The user ended the comment with an emoji of a figure crossing its arms, supposedly to ward off approaching Wal-Mart employees.
The retailer said that it is partnering with August Home and delivery service Deliv for its delivery workers, but those reassurances have either gone ignored or unread by some.
Ask the experts
Even if customers are comfortable with strangers entering their homes when they’re not there, more issues could result if the service becomes widespread.
“There are always unintended consequences that arise with these newfangled ideas," Albert Gidari, director of privacy for the Stanford Center for Internet and Society, told the Washington Post. “It might be creepy and intrusive, but there are also a lot of security risks and liability questions down the road: What happens if there’s a theft, or damage, or a dog bite? Will your homeowners’ policy cover that? How will insurance companies react to this?”
Ultimately, the intrusion into peoples’ personal space could result in awkward interactions that would otherwise be avoided. “This is a group of people who are already used to a certain level of intrusiveness,” said Gidari. “But God help the teenager playing hooky or the family dog who’s not expecting the delivery man.”
Win for face-to-face time
This immediate consumer backlash should be reassuring for brick-and-mortar retailers. Continued adoption of disruptive retail services shows there is an appetite for technology-driven solutions similar to this. But these online reactions may reveal a limit to how far consumers will go for convenience.
No one is forcing consumers to participate in this program. Even existing Wal-Mart customers in Silicon Valley don’t have to use it if they don’t want to. And the company made it clear in its announcement blog that Wal-Mart is simply dipping its toes in the proverbial pool of disruption. “This may not be for everyone—and certainly not right away—but we want to offer customers the opportunity to participate in tests today and help us shape what commerce will look like in the future,” wrote Sloan Eddleston, Wal-Mart’s vice president of e-commerce strategy and business operations.
If this many consumers are taking the time to air their grievances online because of a voluntary test, imagine the comments if services like this suddenly became the norm.