Drone delivery of package being lowered by cable. Photo by Walmart.
Have you heard all the buzz (pun intended) about the highly anticipated deliveries from the big blue sky? The Dallas-Fort Worth area is buzzing (sorry, can’t help myself) with Walmart’s drone delivery expansion news that began back in Aug. 2023. The day I can watch where I am walking instead of up at the sky is almost here because Walmart announced the largest drone delivery expansion of any U.S. retailer in Jan. 2024.
Sept. 9, 2020, Walmart announces on-demand drone delivery with Flytrex. Photo by Walmart.
But first, a little inflight entertainment before take off. The buzz (oops, did it again) began when Tom Ward, Senior Vice President of Customer Product, announced Walmart’s first pilot program for drone deliveries in Sept. 2020 with Flytrex. Ward explains that Sam Walton, the company founder, famously said, “I have always been driven to buck the system, to innovate, to take things beyond where they’ve been” and that remains a guiding principle at Walmart to this day. The first Flytrex deliveries began in Fayetteville, North Carolina and focused on delivering select grocery and household items using the drone’s automated cloud dashboard. Those first deliveries have proven to be successful because Walmart quickly announced two more partnerships within the same month with Zipline and DroneUp, respectively.
Sept. 14, 2020, Walmart announces on-demand drone delivery with Zipline. Photo by Walmart.
The Zipline initiative was the first-of-its-kind drone delivery in operation in the U.S. according to Walmart’s Sept.14, 2020 news release. The new program would deliver on-demand select health and wellness products near Walmart’s headquarters in Northwest Arkansas. The DroneUp partnership quickly follows.
Sept. 20, 2020, Walmart announces trial drone deliveries in partnership with Quest Diagnostics and DroneUp.” Photo by Walmart.
Walmart announced their partnership with Quest Diagnostics and DroneUp to deliver safe and contactless COVID-19 self-collection kits on Sept. 20, 2020. The prerequisite for deliveries in the two trial areas, one in North Las Vegas and the other in Cheektowaga, New York, required single-family residences to be located within one mile of the designated Supercenter store. Once the customer received their kit, either in the front or back yard depending on obstacles, they administered the nasal swab test then mailed it back to Quest using the prepaid shipping label. The DroneUp trial proved successful, hundreds of deliveries made safely within minutes versus hours, Walmart announced their first multi-site partnership with the company in November 2021.
On Nov. 22, 2021, Walmart and DroneUp announced their first multi-site commercial drone delivery operations from drone airport “Hubs.” Photo by Walmart.
In May 2022, Walmart announced an explosive expansion project in partnership with DroneUp forecasting the possibility to reach 4 million U.S. households across six states, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Utah and Virginia, by expanding their delivery network to 34 sites by year end. The news release stated the hours of operation, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m, and customers have the ability to order from tens of thousands of eligible items from Tylenol to hot dog buns with a $3.99 delivery fee to cover a 10 pound package. The delivery air times were projected to be less than 30 minutes. In addition, the participating Walmart stores with DroneUp delivery hubs have trained teams of certified pilots that operate within FAA guidelines to ensure safe flight operations. Lastly, the drone delivers a customer’s package using a cable to gently lower it on a lawn. Interesting trivia, the top-selling item at the time of the news release was Hamburger Helper.
Walmart partners with Wing, an on-demand drone delivery provider powered by Google’s parent company, Alphabet. Photo by Walmart.
Is that a buzz I hear? (yes, I said it again). Drones are inching closer with Walmart’s new partnership with Wing announced in Aug. 2023. This new partnership will expand drone deliveries from two stores in the Dallas metro area with the potential to reach an additional 60,000 homes due to Wing’s line of sight technology that will increase the flying range to 6 miles from the designated store. So if you live near the Walmart Supercenter at 8555 Preston Road in Frisco, Texas, check out the Wing app and enter your address to determine if you’re eligible for that last minute forgotten container of ice cream or even a dozen eggs.
WALMART 2022 DRONE DELIVERY
Walmart released 2022 drone delivery stats on Jan. 5, 2023.” Photo by Walmart.
Walmart announces the largest drone delivery expansion of any U.S. retailer with service providers Wing and Zipline, Jan. 9, 2024.” Photo by Walmart.
Ladies and gentlemen this concludes our inflight entertainment, please prepare for take off. We are about to launch with Walmart in the largest drone delivery expansion of any U.S. retailer, right here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Yes, that is the buzzing sound of drones making deliveries in your neighborhood. Last month’s announcement projects Walmart will reach an additional 1.8 million households around the Dallas Fort-Worth metroplex using both Wing and Zipline’s Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) which is FAA approved for drone operators without a dedicated observer being able to see the drone at all times. Walmart states they can deliver faster than 30 minutes in many cases, there is Express Delivery in three hours or less, late-night delivery until 10 p.m. and in-home delivery with an option to place it directly in your refrigerator. I saved the best for last, drones can deliver several items at a time. Need muffins and coffee or a last minute birthday gift, diapers or eggs? Visit wing.com/Walmart or flyzipline.com/get-delivery. The current service radius is up to 10 miles from the designated store. Check back next month for updates on retailers and drone delivery services.