Walmart expands drone delivery service to 3 more states in race against Amazon

Core Insights - Walmart is expanding its drone delivery service to three additional states, aiming to compete with Amazon for the fastest delivery service [1] - The partnership with Google's Wing will enable Walmart to launch drone delivery at 100 stores across cities including Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Orlando, and Tampa, building on existing operations in Arkansas and Texas [2] - Walmart claims to be the first retailer to scale drone delivery across five states, emphasizing its goal to lead in tech-enabled retail [2] Delivery Service Details - Wing's drones can operate beyond visual line of sight, covering a range of up to 6 miles from the store, with delivery times under 30 minutes [3] - Walmart has conducted over 150,000 drone deliveries since 2021 in collaboration with Wing and Zipline, which initially partnered with Walmart for deliveries in Arkansas [6] - In addition to drone delivery, Walmart has launched other fast delivery options, including Express Delivery, Late-Night Delivery, and InHome Delivery [8] Competitive Landscape - Amazon has also been expanding its drone delivery services, recently deploying them in College Station, Texas, and the West Valley of Phoenix, Arizona [9] - Amazon reported record Prime delivery speeds in early 2024, with over 2 billion items delivered the same or next day to Prime members globally [10]