Wing, Google’s sister company specializing in drone delivery, has just announced a partnership with Coles, one of Australia’s leading supermarket chains. Objective: to deliver nearly 250 different items, ranging from foodstuffs to health and toiletry products, in the country’s capital, Canberra.
Australia, Wing’s favorite country
In August 2021, Wing announced that it had crossed the bar of 100,000 commercial deliveries. A little over six months later, it has doubled the bet with now 200,000 deliveries to its credit. Australia, which has been the firm’s main market for testing and commercial rollout, has 30,000 such deliveries in the first two months of this year, notes TechCrunch.
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The country is favored by Wing, which recently changed its delivery process there by allowing its drones to fly from the rooftops of shopping malls. In addition, the Alphabet subsidiary recently added new products to its delivery service, such as KFC, Vietnamese food from Roll’d, as well as rapid tests from Friendly Grocer to screen for Covid-19. .
Wing explains that she now makes 1,000 deliveries a day, or one every 25 seconds or so. By establishing a new partnership with Coles, the company is going even further. “ We have tested the delivery of coffee, pizza and pharmaceuticals by air. Shopping is the next logical step University of Sydney supply chain expert Rico Merkert told ABC Australia.
Wing surpassed the 200,000 commercial shipments mark. Photography: Wing
Drone delivery, a not so shaky future?
Drone grocery delivery may seem amazing; lately, this type of transport in the delivery sector seemed to be running out of steam and taken aback by delivery robots, many models of which are currently being tested in the United States in particular. For example, Amazon’s drone delivery service, Prime Air, is far from meeting the expected success and is even taking on water.
It is true that this technology seems relevant in rural areas but, according to Wing, it has its place in cities as well: “ Integrating drone delivery into daily life is not just an added convenience. It holds the promise of reducing traffic congestion, accidents and greenhouse gas emissions while increasing business sales, while giving people back more time in their busy lives. If you want a glimpse of that future, just look at Australia the company said.
For his part, Rico Merkert is convinced that this type of delivery will be much more present in the future. If they become democratized, delivery drones will nevertheless not be deployed everywhere at the same pace… It is certain that their arrival will be faster in some countries than in others, where obtaining authorization for flying could be a much more complex task.