Walmart is expanding its drone delivery program to 1.8 million more Texas homes. The retailer says its drone deliveries now cover 75 percent of the population in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, all thanks to partnerships with drone startups Wing and Zipline.
Because there is a weight limit, customers can only have smaller items delivered, such as cold medicine, birthday candles and even a carton of eggs. Walmart says deliveries arrive in 30 minutes or less, with some even reaching the customer's doorstep in as little as 10 minutes.
In 2023, Walmart partnered with Wing, owned by Google parent company Alphabet, to serve 60,000 additional homes in the Dallas-Fort Worth area from two different stores. However, this represents the largest expansion to date, adding 30 more cities and towns to the Texas metroplex. The program now also uses Wing and Zipline drones to make deliveries in the region. Both are approved by the Federal Aviation Administration to fly drones “without a special observer being able to see the drone at any time.”
These are all areas that Walmart's drone delivery service will soon cover. Image: Walmart
“Zipline is excited to fulfill Walmart’s vision of delivering to customers so quickly it feels like teleportation,” Zipline co-founder and CEO Keller Rinaudo Cliffton said in a statement. “We’re excited that people across Dallas-Fort Worth can experience delivery that’s seven times faster, emissions-free and whisper-quiet.”
To date, Walmart has made over 20,000 successful drone deliveries. Wing says it will begin shipping to new locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area “in the coming months” and expects to complete the expansion with Walmart within the year. You can check whether your address can receive drone deliveries from Walmart on the Wing and Zipline websites.