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Walmart to step up drone delivery service

Partnership with DroneUp to reach 4 million households in six states

Russell Redman

May 24, 2022

4 Min Read
Walmart DroneUp delivery-drone flight hub_2.png
Walmart said it plans to expand DroneUp delivery to 34 store sites in Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Utah and Virginia.Walmart

Walmart this year plans to roll out DroneUp drone delivery for online orders to six states, enabling the retailer to serve 4 million households via the service.

In a blog post on Tuesday, David Guggina, senior vice president of innovation and automation for Walmart U.S., said Walmart aims to expand DroneUp delivery to 34 sites in Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Utah and Virginia by the end of 2022. That will give the Bentonville, Ark.-based retail giant the ability to deliver more 1 million packages by drone annually. (Click here to see Walmart video of DroneUp delivery.)

Guggina noted that Walmart has been working on drone delivery over the past year. Last June, Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner said Walmart made an undisclosed investment in DroneUp after conducting a delivery pilot with the Virginia Beach, Va.-based drone flight services provider in 2020. Previously, Walmart and DroneUp had made trial deliveries of COVID-19 home test kits, which Walmart said demonstrated that drones could provide delivery in minutes rather than hours.

Then in November, Walmart announced its first commercial DroneUp delivery for online customers in northwest Arkansas, starting with a Walmart Neighborhood Market in Farmington and later launching the service at a Walmart Neighborhood Market in Rogers and a Walmart Supercenter in Bentonville.

Related:Walmart launches drone deliveries with DroneUp

“After completing hundreds of deliveries within a matter of months across our existing DroneUp hubs, we’ve seen firsthand how drones can offer customers a practical solution for getting certain items, fast,” Guggina said in the blog. “More importantly, we’ve seen a positive response from our customers that have used the service. In fact, while we initially thought customers would use the service for emergency items, we’re finding they use it for its sheer convenience, like a quick fix for a weeknight meal. Case in point: The top-selling item at one of our current hubs is Hamburger Helper.”

Participating Walmart stores will house a DroneUp delivery hub with a team of certified drone pilots that safely manage delivery flight operations within FAA guidelines. After a customer places an order, the item is fulfilled from the store, packaged, loaded into the drone and delivered to their home using a cable that gently lowers the package.

Walmart drone delivery-DroneUp hub-flight engineers.jpg

To run the drone flight operations, participating Walmart stores will have DroneUp delivery hub with a team of certified drone pilots.

Customers place their drone delivery orders at droneupdelivery.com. Through the service, operating from 8 a.m to 8 p.m., shoppers can order from tens of thousands of items — such as Tylenol, diapers and hot dog buns — for delivery by air in as soon as 30 minutes, according to Guggina. The delivery fee costs $3.99 for an order of up to 10 pounds.

Related:Walmart further embraces drone delivery with DroneUp investment

“The customer has always been at the center of our focus at Walmart, and we look for partners that are as laser-focused on customer experience as we are,” Guggina said. “DroneUp has been a reliable partner as we’ve tested this solution, and their capabilities will enable our business to scale with speed while maintaining a high caliber of safety and quality.”

As the partnership with DroneUp expands, Walmart also expects to be able to provide drone delivery to other companies. The retailer already has launched Walmart GoLocal, a white-label “delivery as a service” that offers its e-commerce and logistics capabilities to other businesses, including small to large retailers.

Walmart-DroneUp delivery-Farmington AR.jpg

The DroneUp drones can carry an order of up to 10 pounds, according to Walmart.

“Walmart packages aren’t the only thing the drones will deliver. A core value at Walmart is to give back to the communities in which we operate, which is why as we scale our drone infrastructure, we’ll continue to influence the expansion of drone technology and enable other businesses to explore its benefits, too,” said Guggina. “This means DroneUp will offer local businesses and municipalities aerial drone solutions in areas like insurance, emergency response and real estate. For example, a local construction agency can work with DroneUp to monitor on-site job progress through aerial drone photography. Not only will the added revenue help offset the cost of delivery, but it also serves the entire drone industry by gathering more flight data as we work together to expand drone operations in a safe and regulated way.”

DroneUp operates commercially nationwide and is an authorized government drone services provider for 11 states, where it serves public sector organizations. Walmart noted that DroneUp’s on-demand drone delivery network includes a database of more than 10,000 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-certified pilots, and the company was the first operator to use the FAA 107.39 waiver, an operation that allows delivery flights over people and moving vehicles.

“We’ll be able to deploy a drone for aerial inspection or rapidly deploy drones for a first responder or public safety support in a way that hasn’t been available before,” DroneUp CEO and founder Tom Walker told DroneLife. “These hubs will be manned and ready to go, with the ability to get a drone in the air in a minute.”

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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