Expansion Gives Walmart the Largest Drone-Delivery Footprint of Any US Retailer
Originally posted by Candace Carlisle, CoStar News
Retail giant Walmart is expanding its drone deliveries the Dallas-Fort Worth area by expanding the service to up to 75% of the region’s population, serving more households by drone than any other U.S. retailer in a move that could one day affect retail property across the country.
The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer’s expansion of drone delivery in the nation’s fourth most-populous metropolitan area adds the aircraft delivery option to Walmart’s stores in 30 towns and municipalities, the company said, marking the first time a U.S. retailer has offered drone delivery to this many households in a single market.
“Drone delivery is not just a concept of the future, it’s happening now and will soon be a reality for millions of additional Texans,” Prathibha Rajashekhar, a senior vice president for innovation and automation for Walmart U.S., said in a statement. Rajashekhar added that customers will be able to select from a “broad assortment of items” from Walmart for drone delivery.
Drone delivery has been on the rise quickly in Texas in a move that allows more shoppers to avoid setting food in a store, reducing foot traffic to surrounding retail real estate. Less than a year ago, Walmart teamed up with Wing, a subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet, to deliver goods by air to customers in Dallas-Fort Worth from two Walmart stores in the Dallas-area suburbs of Frisco and Lewisville. The delivery service by drone, which cruises at 65 miles per hour, was able to reach customers within a 6-mile radius of the stores with a delivery time of less than 30 minutes.
Walmart’s drone-delivery expansion in Dallas-Fort Worth is expected to be available for up to 1.8 million additional households within 10 miles of a store. Besides Wing, drone-delivery provider Zipline is also teaming up with Walmart on the expansion.
There is a 10-pound weight maximum for items in a drone delivery. Each 10-pound parcel includes a $3.99 drone-delivery fee, according to the company. Popular items for Walmart’s drone-delivery service across the nation in 2022 included Bounty paper towels, Red Bull, rotisserie chicken and store-brand cookies and ice cream, according to Walmart.
Shoppers using Walmart’s drone deliveries tend to have forgotten an ingredient for a recipe, need cold medicine or have a craving they want to satisfy, Walmart said in the statement.
Both Wing and Zipline are approved by the Federal Aviation Administration to fly drones without a dedicated observer with eyes on the drone at all times, enabling Walmart to expand its drone-delivery efforts, Walmart said.
In the first few months of Wing delivering items to Walmart customers, Wing CEO Adam Woodworth said one thing is clear: Demand for drone delivery is real.
“The response has been incredible from customers ordering drone delivery from Walmart every day,” Woodworth said in a statement, adding the expansion of the delivery service is a testament to the rising demand for drones to help get goods to consumers.
Keller Rinaudo Cliffton, co-founder and CEO of Zipline, said this expansion shows that autonomous delivery is “finally ready for national scale in the U.S.” with Walmart’s aim to provide customer deliveries “so fast it feels like teleportation.” Zipline currently completes a commercial drone delivery every 70 seconds with operations on four continents.
Walmart has nearly 4,700 stores located within 10 miles of 90% of the U.S. population, making the company “uniquely positioned” to scale drone-delivery options “when that time comes,” according to the statement.