Walmart drones are hitting more areas

Bill Wilson

Walmart is ready to expand its drone delivery service to four stores in Texas.

In partnership with drone delivery provider Wing, the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer officially launched a drone delivery service at a Walmart Supercenter in North Richland Hills, Texas, this week, and drones will be used at a Walmart in Tarrant Parkway, Texas, starting next week.

Walmart already has drone delivery service at locations in Lewisville and Frisco, Texas.

Earlier this year, Walmart claimed it had the largest drone delivery footprint of any U.S. retailer thanks to partnerships with Wing and Zipline, which also is in the drone business.

The goal is to cover 75% of the Dallas-Fort Worth population (30 towns) with drone delivery service.

The demand from the shopper is there. In an interview with Supermarket News, Wing CFO Shannon Nash said 43% of consumers said in a recent survey that last-minute grocery runs are the most common reason they make unplanned trips to the store, and 74% are interested in finding ways to replace time-consuming trips with fast delivery. 

Last week, Zipline announced it hit a million drone deliveries, and in the coming quarters, the company plans to begin rolling out P2, which is expected to serve more than 30 million people in 10 states within the U.S. over the next few years.

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In the U.S., Zipline’s most frequently delivered items are fresh produce.