However, just because you can order online doesn't mean they can deliver online (unless your purchase is software- based). The delivery process to homes is thwarted by the fact that people aren't home when the van turns up. On the other hand, we habitually have chemicals delivered to us by a direct distribution framework. And not only delivered - related products are removed from our households by similar means, too.

It would be sensible to enwiden the pipes that deliver to households to enable small airships to float within, just above water level, suspending parcels for delivery within the water.

On second thoughts, it would be more sensible to, within these widened pipes, feature small submarines, holding parcels aloft out of the water's reach.

These submarines could be programmed to route to individual premises via the most efficient algorithm possible (ie, generally avoiding going via unnecessary countries) so that as soon as you've ordered something, within a day or so, it'll appear docked and harboured within a small hatch near the outside wall of the house, by the door.

Interstitial submarines would kill rats and process them for fuel, as rats quite readily convert into energy. In-flight refuelling techniques from the rat conversion subs would ensure that delivery submarines could sustain long journeys with ease.