Prices are accurate at the time of publication. Insider Reviews; WalmartWhen you buy through our links, Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more.
Walmart and Amazon Both Walmart InHome and Amazon Key will deliver groceries and other items inside your house or garage. The services are meant to help keep food fresh and packages safe from theft and weather. You’ll need specific smart-home devices for either service.
Major retailers, including Walmart and Amazon, are finding ways to make grocery and package deliveries more convenient for customers. Such services might be helpful for those with mobility issues, busy schedules, or inclement weather. But allowing delivery people into your home or garage comes with its own set of concerns, especially in terms of privacy and safety.
Walmart InHome offers unlimited delivery for groceries and some household items. Walmart employees will be able to enter your home or garage and put away perishable items and leave the rest on the counter. Prescription delivery is coming soon, with certain restrictions (like refrigerator medications or controlled substances).
With Amazon Key, a delivery person will access your garage to put your packages inside. In some areas, grocery delivery from Amazon Fresh or Whole Foods is available as well. We break down the differences between the two services, including everything you need to know about how they work, safety measures, and required equipment.
CostWalmart and AmazonWalmart InHomeWalmart InHome is $19. 95 per month or $148 per year and comes with Walmart+ benefits. The base Walmart+ plan costs $98 per year, so adding on InHome delivery will cost an extra $50 annually.
Amazon KeyThe service is included for free with Amazon Prime, which costs $139 per year. How does it work?Walmart InHomeFirst, you’ll need to ensure you have a compatible device so the delivery person can enter. Then you buy your items on Walmart.
com or using the Walmart app (available for iOS and Android) or the InHome app (available for iOS and Android) and select in-home delivery at checkout. All orders over $35, before tax, qualify for InHome delivery or you can pay a $5. 99 fee for orders under that amount.
You’ll get a notification when the delivery is scheduled and when the employee arrives. Deliveries take place seven days a week between 9 a. m.
and 6 p. m. The delivery person will put perishable items in your refrigerator in your home or garage, if you have one.
Amazon KeyFor garage deliveries, you’ll need a Chamberlain myQ Smart Garage Hub. Link Amazon Key through your myQ app (iOS and Android) and select Key Delivery when making purchases on Amazon. com or in the app (iOS and Android).
On the day your package will be delivered, you’ll receive a notification of a four-hour window in which it will arrive. The driver scans the package when they’re at your garage, the door opens, and they place it inside. If you have a compatible camera, it will turn on when the driver scans the package.
SafetyWalmart InHomeThe people who deliver and put away groceries are Walmart employees (as opposed to gig workers) who have worked for the retailer for at least a year and undergone “multiple types of background checks. ” Employees undergo “hours of training” and wear cameras that begin recording when they arrive at your home and continue until the door is locked or the garage door is closed. In the InHome app, you can view the footage during the delivery and for up to seven days afterward.
Walmart says it will destroy recordings after that time but will also share them with law enforcement if necessary. In addition to giving the delivery person access to your entry pad key or door lock, you’ll also have to disarm extra alarms or other security services before they enter. Walmart employees won’t make deliveries if there are “uncontained pets” in your home.
Delivery people are screened for fevers, wear masks and maintain 6 feet of distance while inside homes, and disinfect surfaces they touch to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. Amazon KeyAmazon says its delivery people (who may be gig workers instead of full-time employees) undergo background checks. The company also verifies the location of the driver and package before opening the garage door.
You’ll need to deactivate any extra alarm systems you have connected to your garage door during the delivery period as well. Amazon suspended its in-home delivery service because of COVID-19. There are no virus-specific safety measures listed on its Key garage delivery site.
Equipment neededWalmart and AmazonWalmart InHomeRight now, Walmart InHome only works with certain smart locks and garage doors. You can use an entry keypad (any brand), Level Bolt or Level Touch smart lock, or Genie smart garage door opener. For a limited time, Walmart is selling Level locks and Genie Aladdin Connect retrofit kits for $49.
95 and installing them for free. Level locks should be compatible with most standard deadbolts, but they won’t work with mortise locks (often found in older buildings and some condos and apartments). The Genie retrofit kit works with garage door openers made after 1993.
Amazon KeyTo allow delivery people to access your garage, you’ll need a Chamberlain myQ connected garage door. The $30 hub works with garage door openers made after 1993. For Amazon’s currently paused in-home service, you need a compatible smart lock, most of which are versions of popular devices made for Amazon Key.
If you don’t want to be as locked into Amazon’s smart-home ecosystem, a couple of Schlage’s locks work without being Key-specific. AvailabilityWalmart InHomeIn early 2022, Walmart said it will hire 3,000 people and expand the service to 30 million households by the end of the year. InHome is currently available in Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Vero Beach and Palm Beach County, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; Northwest Arkansas; Phoenix, Arizona; and Washington, D.
C. Two addresses we tried in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — one of three cities that was part of the 2019 pilot launch — had delivery available, but the other two didn’t. We had more luck in Atlanta, Georgia, where all three addresses we tried were eligible for InHome.
Amazon KeyWhile widespread, Amazon Key isn’t everywhere. As you might expect, remote ZIP codes like Grouse Creek, Utah, and Barrow, Alaska, aren’t covered. But neither are some smaller cities, like Manhattan, Kansas, for example.
Large cities and suburbs have more delivery options, too, including Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods grocery deliveries. Free-trialWalmart InHomeWalmart offers a 30-day free trial for InHome, but current and past Walmart+ members aren’t eligible for the trial. Amazon KeyNew members can try Amazon Prime, with Amazon Key included, free for 30 days.
Bottom lineWalmart InHome vs. Amazon KeyWalmart InHome and Amazon Key offer useful benefits, especially for those with mobility issues or whose packages get soggy from the weather or stolen by porch thieves. One major drawback is that both require specific smart-home equipment (or sharing your entry keypad’s number, in the case of Walmart InHome).
Not just any smart lock or garage door opener will do. While Walmart InHome requires a certain brand of lock (Level), the majority of Amazon’s compatible locks and cameras are Key-specific. That limits some of their integration and ties you further into the Amazon smart-home ecosystem.
Amazon Key is more widespread than Walmart InHome, but it’s limited to garage deliveries at the moment. Most people won’t come in contact with the delivery person, but any perishable grocery items will sit out if they don’t have a refrigerator in their garage. We also haven’t tested the service first-hand because, up until recently, Key delivery was paused because of COVID-19.
However, it’s free with your Prime membership, so it’s a good option if you regularly experience package theft and have a compatible device. Walmart InHome is currently limited in regional availability, but for the customers it does serve, it offers much more than Amazon Key. Vetted employees enter your home to put away purchases to your specifications, and the entire delivery is recorded for your safety.
That said, many people may not feel comfortable allowing someone into their home, even with safety precautions and COVID-19 procedures. We’ve had good experiences using Walmart InHome for grocery and household delivery and returns. It’s an ideal option if you’ve found traditional grocery delivery don’t offer far enough flexibility.
We see it as particularly useful for busy families or folks who have trouble carrying groceries on their own. Sign up for Amazon Key delivery for $139 per yearSign up for Walmart InHome for $148 per yearDisclosure: Written and researched by the Insider Reviews team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting.
If you buy them, we may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our partners. We may receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. Coverage created by Insider Reviews for a particular advertiser is clearly marked as such.
This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is recommended. We operate independently from our advertising team. We welcome your feedback.
Email us at reviews@insider. com. Read the original article on Insider.
From: insider
URL: https://www.insider.com/guides/home/walmart-inhome-vs-amazon-key-delivery
