With just days to go before Black Friday and Cyber Monday – the busiest online shopping days of the Christmas season – Sweden's Volvo Cars has unveiled a brand new way to take some of the hassle out of Christmas shopping.
The premium car maker has launched the world's first commercially available in-car delivery service by teaming up with PostNord, the Nordic region's leading communication and logistics supplier, Lekmer.com, the leading Nordic online toy and baby goods store, and Mat.se, a Swedish online grocery retailer, to have Christmas toys, gifts, food and drinks delivered to its cars.
Volvo In-car Delivery promises to bring some of the cheer back to Christmas by eradicating the more unpleasant aspects of seasonal shopping such as a desperate search for parking space in a busy city centre, crowds of stressed people and the disappointment of missed deliveries.
The Volvo In-car Delivery works by means of a digital key, which is used to gain one-time access to your vehicle. Owners simply order the goods online, receive a notification that the goods have been delivered and then just drive home with them.
"Christmas is fun – but let's be honest, it is also a busy time for most families. This service simply makes shopping easier," said Björn Annwall, Senior Vice President for Marketing, Sales and Service at Volvo. "Volvo In-car Delivery provides concrete proof that connected car technologies can be used to save people time and make their lives easier."
Volvo In-car Delivery is currently only available for Volvo drivers in Gothenburg who subscribe to the Volvo On Call service, but it will be introduced elsewhere in Sweden and to other countries in future. There will also be a wider range of goods available for In-car Delivery as Volvo joins forces with more companies in future.
The service is extremely simple to use. Volvo owners just choose the In-car Delivery option at the online checkout when they buy their gifts, food, drinks or other packages.
The Volvo In-car Delivery service is a good example of Volvo's broader attitude to how new technologies can be introduced to its cars.
Volvo is always keen to explore new technologies, be it in the areas of safety, autonomous driving or connectivity, but believes fundamentally in Nordic utility – meaning it will only introduce a technology if it actually saves lives, saves times, adds an element of convenience or benefits drivers.
"Volvo is not interested in technology for the sake of technology," said Klas Bendrik, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Volvo. "If a technology does not make a customer's life easier, better, safer or more fun, we don't use it."
