The topic of drones and efficient drone-capable deliveries has been up in the air for decades. In October, Wing (a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., Google’s (News - Alert) parent company) announced a new partnership with Coles, an Australian supermarket, retail, and consumer services chain. With Wing’s deployments, small items delivered via drone to the customer are currently on the table. Additionally, Amazon’s Prime Air delivery rollout (albeit slower-moving) has been promised to kick off by the end of this year.
Walmart, however, has most recently taken flight.
For Walmart shoppers, no longer are commercial drone deliveries relegated to the sci-fi likes of Blade Runner or Stargate SG-1. Across Arizonian, Texan, and Floridian skies, drone deliveries via Walmart are now available for select markets. This achievement was made possible by the expansion of Walmart’s DroneUp network. DroneUp is an innovative, delivery-made-simpler company with the mission of making drone flight good for business and essential for communities.
Tom Walker, CEO of DroneUp, believes this partnership with Walmart will help set the gold standard for state-of-the-art technology enabling last-minute, last-mile delivery systems. In fact, on December 15, Walmart and DroneUp hosted a hands-on flight and delivery demo in Dallas to celebrate the launch. Walker also commented on the unique safety approaches DroneUp has taken, including the implementation of its lightweight drones’ sense-and-avoid systems and how the integrity of the products being delivered is being maintained. With technical successes in the books, long-term feasibility, overall reliability, and expanded service areas are on the horizon.
Altogether, considering advancements like same-day drone deliveries and even visual spectacles like “skyvertising” via sophisticated drone technologies, looking up this holiday season is sure to feel a bit different going into 2023.