An expansion with drone operator Zipline will allow the retailer to make rapid air delivery available to customers nationwide over the next several years.
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Customers are warming up to the idea of drone delivery after some initial hesitation. Back in May, Walmart announced it had reached its 1 millionth drone delivery, with a little over 40% of those deliveries happening in Q1. That number has since doubled.
Walmart started out the year with 66 active drone delivery locations and has been steadily increasing that number since announcing an expansion with Wing in January. The retailer will expand its drone delivery coverage with Wing to over 270 Walmart locations by 2027.
The additional expansion with Zipline will boost the total number of drone sites Walmart plans to have in operation in the coming years to at least 570 — a nearly ninefold increase.
The ramp-up will keep Walmart close on the heels of Amazon, which plans to have drone delivery capabilities in nearly 500 cities by the end of this year.
The speed of delivery is its core selling point for Walmart. “Customers who use fast delivery shop with us more frequently,” CEO John Furner said in a Q2 earnings call. “They deepen engagement with us, and they’re more likely to become Walmart+ members. The advances we’re making in speed of delivery create another reason for customers to choose Walmart for more shopping occasions.”
Through the Zipline partnership, customers within the delivery range can have tens of thousands of items delivered from the Walmart app or website as fast as 30 minutes or less.
With 90% of Americans living within 10 miles of a Walmart store, the company already has the brick-and-mortar presence to build out a localized national drone network.
“Walmart’s stores put us close to the communities we serve. With Zipline, we can build on that proximity and bring this fast delivery option to even more customers across the country,” Greg Cathey, senior vice president of e-commerce fulfillment transformation at Walmart, said in a statement.
The same day that the expanded partnership with Walmart was announced, Zipline shared that it has raised $1.5 billion in new funding, which it plans to funnel into expanding its U. S. manufacturing facilities and hiring.