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Walmart and Wing Expand Drone Delivery to Seven More U.S. Cities

The move is meant to grow the service to hundreds of Walmart sites while requiring local-government coordination before launches.

Overview

  • The companies announced the seven-city expansion on Tuesday, adding Memphis, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Salt Lake City to their network.
  • Walmart and Wing say the rollout will scale to more than about 270 Walmart locations next year as they build a national drone-delivery network.
  • Wing and Walmart have completed more than one million commercial deliveries so far, and company data show frequent repeat use with some customers ordering by drone multiple times per week.
  • Wing’s light, fast drones fly up to about 60 mph and lower small packages on a tether to yards, porches, or driveways, with Walmart targeting most deliveries under roughly 5 pounds and Zipline drones used in Texas able to carry up to 8 pounds.
  • Customers will see a drone delivery option in the Walmart app or can order through the Wing app when their address falls inside a service zone, and the companies say they will work with local officials and communities to set city-specific launch timelines.