Walmart Expanding Its Drove Delivery Service to Customers
Its DroneUp delivery network could potentially reach 4 million households across six states by the end of the year.
Walmart is elevating its game when it comes to customer delivery, announcing this week that it will begin drone delivery of some goods in some areas.
Packages can be placed on the customer’s doorsteps “in as little as two hours,” the company said in a release, and even have items placed directly into their refrigerators through the InHome function.
Walmart announced that its DroneUp delivery network would serve 34 sites by the end of the year, providing the potential to reach 4 million U.S. households across six states of Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Utah and Virginia.
The company said as many as 1 million packages could be delivered by drone in a year.
According to Walmart, this is how it works: Between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., customers will be able to order from tens of thousands of eligible items, such as Tylenol, diapers and hot dog buns, for delivery by air in as little as 30 minutes. For a delivery fee of $3.99, customers can order items totaling up to 10 pounds.
Walmart already has made hundreds of deliveries within a matter of months across its existing DroneUp hubs and said it has seen firsthand how drones can offer customers a practical solution for getting certain items quickly.
“Participating stores will house a DroneUp delivery hub inclusive of a team of certified pilots, operating within FAA guidelines, that safely manage flight operations for deliveries,” the company said in a release. “Once a customer places an order, the item is fulfilled from the store, packaged, loaded into the drone and delivered right to their yard using a cable that gently lowers the package.”