Walmart announced a new expansion across North Texas for its drone delivery service thanks to a partnership with Wing and Zipline, two on-demand drone delivery providers approved by the FAA. According to Walmart, the expansion includes over 30 towns in the DFW area, making it the first retail company in America to offer drone delivery services to this many households.
“This expansion will bring the ultimate convenience of drone delivery to communities across the DFW area. Customers will have access to a broad assortment of items from Walmart available for delivery to their home in just minutes,” said Prathibha Rajashekhar, senior vice president of innovation and automation, at Walmart U.S. “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.”
Wing and Zipline are both approved by the FAA to offer autonomous drones that don’t need a dedicated person to supervise the aircraft as it operates, a system known as Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS). According to Zipline, their drones use multiple sensing technologies capable of monitoring 360º of airspace, day or night and across all weather conditions.
“Walmart is leading the U.S. in using robotics and AI to help people save money and live better,” said Keller Rinaudo Cliffton, co-founder and CEO of Zipline. “We’re excited for folks across Dallas-Fort Worth to experience delivery that is 7x as fast, zero emissions and whisper quiet with our next-generation technology.”
In a statement released by Wing, the company said that the demand for drone delivery increased since the Walmart service launched in August 2023. “On a given Sunday, Walmart customers placed over 130 orders,” said Wing. “In Frisco, our (Walmart) regular customers order on average close to 2 times per week, with our top 25% customers averaging about 3 orders per week.”
“The response has been incredible from customers ordering drone delivery from Walmart every day, and it’s a testament to our partnership that we’re now expanding our footprint to bring this innovative delivery option to millions of Texans,” said Wing CEO Adam Woodworth. “If this milestone is any indication, we believe 2024 is the year of drone delivery.”