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Walmart announced on Tuesday that it’s planning on expanding the number of stores that offer drone-delivered packages; by the end of the year, it hopes to fly deliveries from 34 sites across Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. The company says the expansion will give up to 4 million households access to the service, which is a significant increase. When the company launched the program in November 2021, it was only available in a single town in Arkansas.
Walmart says that customers who live near drone-capable stores will be able to order items weighing less than 10 pounds in total between 8AM and 8PM. The deliveries, which cost $3.99, are done via a drone operated by a company called DroneUp, which has a partnership with Walmart. (The retailer has also invested in the delivery company.) Workers at the Walmart location receive the order, pack it into a box, and then secure the box to a drone. Then, a pilot flies the drone to the customer, and it’s dropped onto their front lawn using what looks like a giant claw.
It sounds like Walmart’s not just trying to expand the program’s footprint — the company also wants to increase the number of packages it’s delivering via drone. In its press release, the company says it’s completed “hundreds of deliveries within a matter of months.” With the expansion, it says it’ll have the ability to do more than a million drone deliveries a year.
In its press release, the company said it thought people would use the service for “emergency items” and has been surprised that something like Hamburger Helper has become the top-selling item at one location. I’ll be perfectly honest, I’m skeptical of this claim — how could anyone introduce a service where a package is flown to you in “as little as 30 minutes” and not expect that people would use it to replace those quick trips to the store to pick up one or two items?
www.theverge.com
Walmart says that customers who live near drone-capable stores will be able to order items weighing less than 10 pounds in total between 8AM and 8PM. The deliveries, which cost $3.99, are done via a drone operated by a company called DroneUp, which has a partnership with Walmart. (The retailer has also invested in the delivery company.) Workers at the Walmart location receive the order, pack it into a box, and then secure the box to a drone. Then, a pilot flies the drone to the customer, and it’s dropped onto their front lawn using what looks like a giant claw.
It sounds like Walmart’s not just trying to expand the program’s footprint — the company also wants to increase the number of packages it’s delivering via drone. In its press release, the company says it’s completed “hundreds of deliveries within a matter of months.” With the expansion, it says it’ll have the ability to do more than a million drone deliveries a year.
In its press release, the company said it thought people would use the service for “emergency items” and has been surprised that something like Hamburger Helper has become the top-selling item at one location. I’ll be perfectly honest, I’m skeptical of this claim — how could anyone introduce a service where a package is flown to you in “as little as 30 minutes” and not expect that people would use it to replace those quick trips to the store to pick up one or two items?
Walmart is expanding its drone deliveries to reach 4 million households
It’ll be in six states by the end of the year.
www.theverge.com
