Walmart is taking to the skies.
According to multiple media accounts, the world’s largest retailer was set to begin offering deliveries by air using drones to customers in Arkansas living near a base store in the town of Farmington, starting on Monday (Nov. 22).
The service will run seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., delivering medication, thermometers and other health-related items. It’s part of a partnership with the drone technology service DroneUp, a startup from Virginia. Walmart says flight engineers will oversee each delivery to ensure safe arrival.
Read more: Walmart Drives DroneUp Partnership With New Investment
The retailer plans to expand the service to other locations in Arkansas in the next few months, and expects to eventually offer drone deliveries over longer distances.
“When we invested in DroneUp earlier this year, we envisioned a drone delivery operation that could be quickly executed and replicated across multiple stores,” said Tom Ward, senior vice president of last mile at Walmart. “Opening our first hub within months of our initial concept showcases DroneUp’s ability to safely execute drone delivery operations with speed.”
Walmart began experimenting with drone delivery last year by sending COVID test kits to customers’ homes, with DroneUp’s help.
“The trial demonstrated that we could offer customers delivery in minutes versus hours,” Walmart CEO and President John Furner said earlier this year. “Now, after safely completing hundreds of drone deliveries from Walmart stores, we’re making an investment in DroneUp to continue our work toward developing a scalable, last-mile delivery solution.”
Read more: Walmart Rolls out First-Ever Driverless Truck Route
Monday’s announcement comes two weeks after Walmart said it had begun making deliveries using fully driverless trucks transporting orders between a Walmart dark store and a Neighborhood Market (Walmart’s smaller format store) in the company’s hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas. Walmart said it marked the first time that a truck has operated autonomously, with no driver, on a commercial delivery route.
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