Walmart has announced that it is to extend its DroneUp delivery network to 34 sites by the end of the year.
The expansion will allow the company to reach up to 4 million US households across six states including Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Utah and Virginia. It will mean Walmart has the ability to deliver more than one million packages by drone a year.
Customers can order from tens of thousands of items up to the weight of 10lbs which will be delivered by air in as little as 30 minutes for a $3.99 delivery fee.
Participating stores will house a DroneUp delivery hub that includes a team of certified pilots, operating within FAA guidelines, who will manage the flight operations for deliveries. When a customer has placed an order the goods are fulfilled from the store, packaged, loaded into the drone and delivered to their property using a cable that gently lowers the package to them.
The service adds to the retailer’s delivery options which also include Express delivery, where customers can have items delivered in as little as two hours, to InHome where orders can be unpacked and put away in their homes by Walmart delivery staff.
