Walmart launches drone deliveries to 3,000 stores nationwide, covering 70% of the population

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A drone hovering over a Walmart parking lot.

Drone Up

Walmart continues to invest in drone delivery business to deliver packages from the air to customers quickly and efficiently

Walmart is expanding its drone delivery network.

Walmart

Source: Insider

Since September 2020, Walmart has partnered with three drone delivery startups, Flytrex, Zipline, and DroneUp, to develop a variety of businesses. There is

Drone up drone.

Walmart

Source: Walmart

Tom Ward, senior vice president of last-mile deliveries at the company, said in a 2020 Insider In an interview, he said each company's drones had a role to play, and that Walmart had been experimenting with them to "increase the speed and convenience of [delivery] in very new and innovative ways."

Drone Up

Source: Insider

DroneUp has partnered with diagnostic information service company Quest Diagnostics to provide customers in North Las Vegas and Cheektowaga, N.Y. with COVID-19 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Walmart. Delivered -19 related kits...

Drone Up mainly delivered COVID-19 related kits.

Walmart

Source: Insider, Walmart

...Flightrex is testing a residential delivery of groceries and household items in Fayetteville, North Carolina...

Flightrex drones.

Flytrex

Source: Insider, Walmart

...Zipline will begin delivering health and wellness-related products in Northwest Arkansas starting December 17, 2021

Length of nearly 8 meters A zipline drone taking off from a platform.

Zipline

Source: Zipline

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Walmart and other companies have successfully partnered to expand and improve their drone delivery operations. That's good news for people within a 16-kilometer radius of the company's 4,700 stores in the US (90% of the US population)

A Walmart store.

Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Source: Insider

Flightrex will be able to offer service in Fayetteville, North Carolina, in May 2021 after it received permission to fly over residential areas from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), according to Industry Dive. More than 2,000 homes added

A Flightrex drone delivering packages to the backyard of a home in North Carolina.

Flytrex

Source: Industry Dive

Before obtaining flight clearance from the FAA, Flightrex drones could only fly on established routes between their distribution centers and outdoor recreation areas. The autonomous drone can carry up to 3 kilograms of cargo and fly 5.6 kilometers.

Walmart's distribution center in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Rick Wilking/Reuters

Source: Industry Dive, FlyTrex

Walmart expands partnership with DroneUp after testing hundreds of deliveries of COVID-19 test kits to cut delivery times from hours to just minutes< /h2>

A DroneUp drone takes off from a platform at the Walmart Neighborhood Market (WNM) in Farmington, Arkansas.

Drone Up

Source: Walmart

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The company's first "hub" airport will be at the Walmart Neighborhood Market (WNM) in Farmington, Arkansas, and will work with two locations in Rogers and Bentonville, Arkansas to expand into multiple locations.

The DroneUp 'hub' at WNM in Farmington, Arkansas.

Drone Up

Source: DroneUp, Forbes

Customers can receive thousands of items in as little as 30 minutes after drone autonomous delivery service launched in November 2021

Drone partnered with Walmart up.

Drone Up

Source: DroneUp

"When we invested in DroneUp in early 2021, our vision was to have a drone delivery operation that could deliver quickly and be diverted to other stores," Ward said. said in a press release. "The opening of the first hub within months of concept demonstrates DroneUp's ability to deliver safely and quickly."

DroneUp Residential Delivery.

Drone Up

Source: DroneUp

DroneUp also recently acquired AirMap, a global airspace management software. This will improve the safety of drones, improve delivery capacity, and solve the labor shortage.

Drone Up's drones.

Drone Up

Source: DroneUp

Meanwhile, after more than a year of preparation, Walmart and Zipline launched autonomous delivery operations in November 2021

Zipline drones.

Zipline

Source: Zipline

Zipline will deliver medicines, thermometers and other health foods to residents within a 50-mile radius of WNM in Pea Ridge, Arkansas, with a distribution center behind the store

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The distribution center behind WNM in Pea Ridge, Arkansas.

Zipline

Source: Zipline

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Ward said the drone's ability to fly long distances would allow people in rural areas and the elderly with high health risks to get the supplies they need without having to travel to a store. The press release states

The cargo will be loaded onto the drone and launched from a platform about 8 meters away.

Zipline

Source: Zipline

"Zipline's autonomous drones have enabled us to offer an amazing on-demand delivery service for immediate needs like thermometers, non-prescription medications, emergency diapers, and more." says Ward

A zipline drone.

Zipline

Source: Zipline

Walmart's expanding delivery network has added the latest technology from Zipline and DroneUp to offer delivery services from more than 3,000 stores nationwide.

Walmart's delivery service, which is available to 70% of the US population.

Walmart

Source: Walmart

Walmart also announced that fully autonomous trucks can now deliver groceries between its fulfillment center and WNM in Bentonville, Arkansas

Walmart's driverless, fully autonomous truck.

Courtesy of Gatik

Source: Walmart

Walmart also offers on-demand delivery services from companies like Spark Driver, Roadie and Instacart

A roadie driver delivers a package to a Walmart customer.

Roadie

Source: Zipline, Tech Crunch

[Original: Walmart is making moves into drones — here's how they plan to do it]

(Translation: Fumiko Nakata, Editing: Toshihiko Inoue)

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