Walmart has commenced its first commercial drone deliveries for groceries to ecommerce customers in Farmington, Arkansas, in partnership with DroneUp.
Visitors to Walmart’s ecommerce site will have the option of selecting drone delivery for $10, allowing them to order from thousands of products up to a weight limit of 4lb.
Initially, the drone deliveries will be limited to customers living within a mile radius of the Farmington store, with two more Walmart stores in Arkansas set to offer the service soon.
While Walmart hasn’t committed to a time limit by which they’ll promise customers will receive their deliveries by drone, orders can be fulfilled in as little as 30 minutes.
A separate partnership with another drone company, Zipline, is offering deliveries of health and wellness items via drone to customers from Walmart’s store in Pea Ridge, Arkansas. While Zipline drops its orders via parachutes, DroneUp lowers the orders on a cable to gently place the packaging outside homes.
Ahead of the first delivery to an address, DroneUp’s crew will assess the property to identify the best place to drop the package. Each drone flight will be managed by one of DroneUp’s hub flight engineers for a controlled and guided delivery.
Walmart first worked with DroneUp in 2020 when the two companies worked together to trial drone deliveries of Covid-19 tests, before investing in the company in June 2021.
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