Walmart has just announced the extension of its drone delivery program in the United States to 34 sites in six states: Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Utah and Virginia. This should allow it to reach 4 million American households by the end of the year.
Walmart promises delivery in no more than 30 minutes
Walmart embarked on drone delivery in 2020, notably to deliver Covid-19 test kits. Last year, the company announced a partnership with the specialist firm DroneUp, in which Walmart has also invested. It is within the framework of this collaboration that the retail giant is extending its program.
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“ After making hundreds of deliveries over a few months to our existing DroneUp hubs, we have seen that drones can offer customers a convenient solution to get certain items, quickly. More importantly, we have seen a positive response from our customers who have used the service. In fact, while we initially thought customers would use the service for emergency items, we find they are using it for convenience, like a quick fix for a weeknight meal. “, explains Walmart in A press release.
Seeing the success of drone delivery, the company therefore chose to expand very quickly. ” Between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., customers will be able to order tens of thousands of qualifying items, such as Tylenol, diapers and hot dog buns, which will be delivered by airmail in just 30 minutes. For a $3.99 delivery charge, customers can order items weighing up to 10 pounds. In other words, if an item can be delivered safely, it can be delivered by drone “, continues the firm.
Drones are not autonomous
Interested people will be able to order online, while on-site employees place the desired product in a package and then attach it to a drone. However, it should be noted that DroneUp devices are not autonomous; they are piloted remotely by pilots certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Once there, the drones will land the package in front of customers before returning to their starting point.
DroneUp drones are operated by certified pilots, and can deliver up to approximately 4.5 kilograms of goods. GIF: Walmart
Furthermore, Walmart explains that “ DroneUp will provide businesses and local municipalities with aerial drone solutions in areas such as insurance, emergency response and real estate », through aerial photography for example. ” Not only will the additional revenue help offset the cost of delivery, but it will also benefit the entire drone industry by allowing more flight data to be collected as we work together to grow drone operations in a more safe and regulated “, assures the company.
Is the drone delivery sector ready to take off?
This large expansion by Walmart demonstrates that drone delivery is slowly starting to take off after several difficult years. Indeed, this sector has many challenges to overcome; it raises many security issues, making regulators doubt whether to give it the green light.
It remains to be seen whether Walmart’s program will be profitable and can allow it to be a leader in the field. Nevertheless, as stated Ars-Technica, the law requires drones to be in line of sight while flying, which means Walmart must have control towers in its store parking lots in order to offer drone service. This limitation also means that deliveries must be made within a 1.5 mile radius of the store. Additionally, DroneUp needs to hire more operators as the number of people using the service grows. That doesn’t seem to be holding the company back, which estimates it will soon be able to deliver nearly 1 million packages a year by drone.
In this sector, Wing, an Alphabet subsidiary, is also ahead and has made more than 100,000 deliveries, mostly in Australia. It recently announced the launch of a pilot program in Dallas, Texas. Prime Air, Amazon’s drone delivery service, is experiencing significant difficulties, and it is unclear whether the company will be able to overcome them.