When a customer orders anything from Walmart, it is delivered from a central warehouse to a local distribution center, generally by a diesel-powered vehicle. It is then loaded into another diesel-powered vehicle and delivered to your door. That implies a lot of carbon emissions are involved in bringing that product to you.
However, Walmart has announced that it will deliver products weighing 10 pounds or less to consumers in Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Utah, and Virginia using drones that lower the packages to the ground through a wire. The service will be delivered in collaboration with DroneUp and is expected to launch before the end of the year.
According to the startup, up to 1 million parcels might be delivered by drone each year for $3.99 apiece. There are 4 million individuals living in areas of the United States where drone delivery is accessible. When it launches, it will be America’s largest drone delivery business.
Many cities around the world now allow human-guided robot delivery trucks to utilize sidewalks to carry food and supplies as an example of “last-mile logistics,” mostly for fresh food delivery.
However, Walmart’s drone effort considerably broadens the range of things that may be delivered by air. According to the company, it would provide up to 100,000 distinct items in a range of categories, ranging from detergents to batteries to snacks.
When this new initiative launches later this year, just 37 locations will be enrolled – less than 1% of the total number of outlets in its retail network. If the drone delivery method is effective, it will undoubtedly be expanded to additional Walmart locations.
Reference – The Guardian, Wired, DroneUp PR & website, Walmart website