The delivery method is planned to be rolled out on a wider basis in the coming months.
Author’s Note
This article is based on corporate postings and accredited media reports. Linked information within this article is attributed to the following outlets: Corporate.Walmart.com, ABC15.com, and FoxBusiness.com.
Introduction
I write extensively about the Walmart superchain on NewsBreak. Typically these articles share news of regularly-announced sweeping operational changes to the company, or closures of individual stores.
This current piece is more the nature of the former. Though not a sweeping change per se it is, certainly, an advancement from previous staid delivery methods.
The company’s drone usage, used substantially to deliver COVID-19 test kits according to Corporate.Walmart.com, is increasing its scope as a generalized delivery system.
Let us explore further.
Walmart, 2022
According to a December 15th report from ABC15.com, “Drone Delivery Now Available at Valley Walmart Stores,” Arizona is among the first states served by the new rollout.
As excerpted from the article: Drone delivery is now available at four local stores. Walmart announced Thursday that two Peoria stores and two Glendale stores are offering the new delivery service that can get items (10 pounds or less) to your home in as little as 30 minutes. Walmart says, “once the items are packaged and loaded into the drone, the order is then delivered using a cable that gently lowers the package into the customer’s yard.” The service is through DroneUp, and customers can place orders between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. You have to live within one mile of a participating store to use the service.
The company states there is no minimum order and the delivery fee is $3.99.
FoxBusiness.com features a wider-ranging story, “Walmart Drone Delivery Launches in Florida, Texas, Arizona Markets,” that elaborated on the entirety of the initial launch: Walmart's drone service officially launched for select customers in Tampa and Orlando, Florida; Phoenix and the Dallas-area just ahead of the holidays. The nation's largest retailer has been working with national drone services provider DroneUp since 2020 when it began trialing deliveries of at-home COVID-19 self-collection kits.
The story further stated: Walmart announced in May 2022 that it was expanding its DroneUp delivery network to reach 4 million U.S. households across six states including Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Utah and Virginia by the end of the year.
DroneUp CEO Tom Walker was also quoted in the piece, saying the company's mission is to "set the gold standard for drone delivery."
Conclusion
To reiterate, Walmart’s new delivery method is expected to be rolled out on a wider basis in the coming months.
In the event of that rollout, or pertinent updates to this story, I will share the news here on NewsBreak.
Thank you for reading.
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