Ordering items online and having them delivered at home is something consumers have been doing for two decades. But even with advances in e-commerce technology, there are still some issues with this process that have yet to be ameliorated.

One major bug bear is the fact that people have to stay in to take delivery of items that are too large to fit through a letterbox, or else arrange to collect packages from a nearby shop or storage locker, which eliminates the convenience of safe shopping online.

Now Amazon has announced a new partnership with two start-ups, which will effectively allow delivery people direct access to customers’ premises via smart, connected door locks.

Both August and Garageio are firms operating under the same basic principle, which is that traditional physical keys are a thing of the past and that people should be able to control entry points to their home via their smartphone.

The idea is that Amazon’s delivery drivers would be able to arrive at a customer’s property and then open their front door or garage to deposit the parcel, before leaving and allowing the door to automatically be relocked, according to the Daily Mirror.

As well as being more convenient, this approach would also mean that items would require less packaging when shipped, since they would not need to be left outdoors and exposed to adverse weather conditions. As a result, there are environmental benefits intrinsic to this technology.

The number of people who actually have smart locks installed at home is tiny at the moment, but rapid growth is predicted in the coming years and it is clear that Amazon wants to be at the forefront of this revolution when it hits the mainstream market.