Latch + UPS
Today we are proud to publicly announce that we are now fulfilling UPS deliveries at Latch buildings in New York City. When you live in a supported Latch building, every package that you order with UPS will now be securely delivered inside your lobby. For the customer there is nothing to set up and nothing to worry about, packages just arrive like magic with a simplicity never before possible.
This experience seems simple (and it is to the end user who is receiving a package), but it has taken us years of development to actualize. As Leonardo Da Vinci allegedly said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” While what the user sees is simple through this new delivery experience, what enables this experience is remarkably complex and has taken a global effort to realize across the Latch operations, product, design, hardware, and software teams.
To make this launch possible, our product design team directly embedded with UPS drivers on their routes to map their workflow and ensure that the Latch experience can seamlessly enable the incredible folks at UPS to fulfill their delivery needs day in and day out. The ultimate expression of the Latch experience is seeing a UPS carrier walk up to a building that they’ve never been to before, seamlessly interact with the Latch device, and securely place their packages inside the building for the resident to return to that evening.
As part of this process, I literally walked a mile (actually a few) in the shoes and uniform of a UPS carrier. It was a remarkable experience to see the efficiency and sense of community embedded in every moment of the carrier’s day. For me, it was a dream come true to hear how Latch dramatically improves the service quality and efficiency in the eyes of a UPS driver on the ground. It’s one thing to make a slide deck that hypothesizes about the results of introducing Latch into the last mile infrastructure of a city, it is a wholly different experience to see it happen live. We can’t reveal the precise efficiency gains we’re seeing yet, but we were shocked to see the results.
We believe fundamentally in the transformative power of access and this new program we’re announcing today with UPS, the largest US package carrier, is just the beginning of what’s to come. Our quiet work with major national carriers is establishing an unprecedented platform for new customer experiences and we can’t wait to activate more capabilities soon. We want every person in an urban environment to be able to get convenient, smart deliveries at their building. We are one huge step closer to that today. To enable this new experience, we’re activating a referral program that allows you to request smart deliveries at your building today, just click here for more information.
