Walmart is expanding its drone delivery service to 34 locations in six states, aiming to reach 4 million U.S. households.
retailers are working with drone arrive Extended service (opens in new tab) To people living in Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Utah and Virginia. According to Walmart, seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., drones will deliver anything on a list of thousands of items. However, the total package weight cannot exceed 10 pounds.
Ordering by drone will incur an additional $3.99 shipping fee on top of purchase. According to Walmart, deliveries take about 30 minutes to reach their destination.
Outside of participating Walmart locations, there will be a DroneUp hub that will serve as the drone’s headquarters. Piloting these machines will be a team of certified pilots who will follow FAA guidelines to ensure safe delivery of packages.
Judging by the images and trailers of the service provided by Walmart, it looks like the service will focus more on rural/small-town areas rather than big cities. The trailer shows a drone flying over a fairly flat suburban landscape.
Neither company has said why they aren’t expanding into big cities, but it’s safe to assume that flying these drones over sparsely populated neighborhoods is safer than delivering them between skyscrapers and other obstacles. It’s unclear if or when Walmart will expand drone delivery to big cities.
Analysis: The Drone Race
Walmart’s drone delivery is First launch in November 2021 At three stores in northwest Arkansas, the pilot program appears to be successful enough to grow.
The retail giant joins the likes of Alphabet (Google’s parent company) and Amazon in offering drone deliveries to customers. However, Walmart’s drone delivery seems to be in the sweet spot right now because it’s such a versatile service. Back in early April, Alphabet’s drone company, Wing, in partnership with Walgreens and a number of other local businesses supply products to people living in two Texas towns. Amazon, on the other hand, has a much harder start.
according to a Bloomberg report for April 2022, Amazon’s drone delivery is dealing with “…technical challenges, high turnover and safety concerns.” An investigation has revealed that a drone started a fire after it crashed.
DroneUp appears to have taken the necessary precautions for its drones. Walmart said it hopes to deliver more than a million packages by drone by this time next year.
Want to fly your own drone? Check out our list of the best drones.
