Technology

Walmart boasts largest drone delivery footprint

Photo: Adobe Stock

January 17, 2024

Walmart is expanding its drone delivery footprint and it will soon be available to 75% of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. That's about 1.8 million additional households, according to a press release.

That will make it the retailer with the biggest drone delivery service, according to Walmart.

"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," Prathibha Rajashekhar, senior vice president, innovation and automation, Walmart U.S., said in the release. "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."

Walmart's drone delivery expansion includes stores across more than 30 towns and municipalities in the DFW metroplex, marking the first time a U.S. retailer has offered drone delivery to this many households in a single market. The deliveries will be powered by on-demand drone delivery providers, Wing and Zipline. Over the last two years trialing drone delivery, Walmart has completed over 20,000 safe deliveries.

"Autonomous delivery is finally ready for national scale in the U.S. Zipline is excited to enable Walmart's vision of providing customer delivery so fast it feels like teleportation," Keller Rinaudo Cliffton, co-founder and CEO of Zipline, said in the release. "Walmart is leading the U.S. in using robotics and AI to help people save money and live better. 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."