With the holiday season just around the corner, Volvo->ke188 is introducing a new method by which Volvo owners can do their shopping online and have their purchases delivered straight to their cars. The Swedish automaker calls it the world’s first commercially available in-car delivery service, and according to the company, it’s an efficient way of giving time back to the consumers that’s otherwise taken up by having to go to stores and malls and doing the holiday shopping in these places.

The service is officially called the Volvo In-car Delivery and it works by way of a digital key that the delivery service can use to gain one-time access to the vehicle of the shopper. Once that digital key has been used up, it can no longer be used in future transactions.

Think of it like this. You’re doing your online shopping while taking you’re lunch break at work. Instead of having to go to a store and buy the items there, you can order online and have the goods delivered straight to your car. So once you finish up work and head back to your car, the goods would have already been placed inside of the car.

The service is only available at the moment for Volvo owners subscribed to the Volvo On Call service in Gothenburg, Sweden where the company’s administrative headquarters is located. Right now, Volvo has already secured deals with Lekmer.com, a Nordic online toy and baby goods store, and Mat.se, a Swedish online grocery retailer.

The company then hopes to roll out the service in other markets all over the world while also expanding its partnerships with more retail companies down the road.

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Why it matters

At the very least, you have to give Volvo some credit for trying to come up with new ways of engaging online shoppers through a service that’s never been done before. It shows that the company is looking to embrace a leadership role in developing useful automotive technology.

Unfortunately, I don’t exactly understand the point of this in-car delivery service when the whole point of online shopping is to have the goods delivered straight to your house. Maybe there’s something I’m not seeing here, but the only thing I can think of when trying to understand this new service is that somebody’s going to have access to my Volvo when I’m not around. That’s a big security concern for me, especially if there are valuables in the car. Even if there isn’t anything worth pilfering, the mere idea that my car can be opened by somebody else, even if it’s just once, is a big red flag for me.

I understand that some people may not have the same reservations. Heck, they might even embrace this new service. I’m just not one of them. I'm not prepared to put my trust in another person gaining access to my car unless Volvo can guarantee the safety and security of my car if I do use this service, then I’m probably going to stay away from using this, unless it’s a final resort. I’m more than content doing my online shopping and having the items delivered to my house. That’s what tracking technology is for, right?

Volvo XC90

Read our full review on the Volvo XC90 here.