Walmart recently announced that they are exploring how drones can deliver items to customers in a way that’s convenient, safe and fast. Now, Walmart is teaming up with Zipline to launch a first-of-its-kind drone delivery operation in the U.S. The new service will make on-demand deliveries of select health and wellness products with the potential to expand to general merchandise.
Trial deliveries will take place near Walmart’s headquarters in Northwest Arkansas using Zipline’s proprietary technology. Zipline will operate from a Walmart store and can service a 50-mile radius, which is about the size of the state of Connecticut. And, not only does their launch and release system allow for quick on-demand delivery in under an hour, it also eliminates carbon emissions.
Zipline, which operates the world’s largest drone delivery network, began operating in late 2016 in Rwanda primarily focusing on the on-demand delivery of medical supplies. To date, they’ve safely delivered more than 200,000 critical medical products to thousands of health facilities serving more than 20 million people across multiple countries. This uniquely positions them for national-scale operations across the United States.
