I always think the answer to some part of this is some sort of secure parcel box / "bin" outside the house which has a barcode on it that the courier can scan in order to verify they delivered the parcel. An advanced bin could have a small camera to photograph the courier to provide verification from both sides.
The non-advanced version surely wouldn't cost more than $20 to sell, and this (small) cost is pushed to the end users, in return for which they get convenient and secure deliveries when they're not at home.
The trick comes from the various sizes and shapes of things people have shipped.
The more plausible approach would be to run a store-front with convenient hours near residential areas to make up for people being unable to have, say, a large or expensive item shipped to their home while they're at work.
This store-front could have a secure 24x7 vestibule with lockers of various sizes/shapes to accommodate most general packages, each locked with a combination emailed to the recipient. (or perhaps a central unit would allow a credit card to be swiped, or NFC device read to unlock the appropriate box.)
Very large or awkward packages could be kept behind the counter. Staffing this from, say, 8 to 8 wouldn't be terribly expensive and it's a service you could easily charge another dollar or so for. To say nothing of additional shipping charges you could capture, from having real human beings available to help people ship things.
You would, essentially, be re-inventing a US post office with better hours and on-demand PO Boxes of interesting dimensions.
The non-advanced version surely wouldn't cost more than $20 to sell, and this (small) cost is pushed to the end users, in return for which they get convenient and secure deliveries when they're not at home.