Walmart customers in six states will soon be able to have their orders delivered by drone in less than 30 minutes.
Through an expansion with operator DroneUp, the big-box retailer said it will be able to reach 4 million households in parts of Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Utah and Virginia. The deliveries by air will be fulfilled from a total of 37 stores with 34 of those run by DroneUp.
The two companies announced on Tuesday a drone delivery service expansion in six states and 34 sites, bringing aerial delivery of thousands of Walmart (NYSE: WMT) items to customers within 30 minutes. Walmart said that expansion will cover approximately 4 million Americans.
Customers who live within the range of a Walmart drone-delivery site can order any of thousands of items between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Each drone delivery comes with a $3.99 fee. Customers can order items totaling up to 10 pounds.
Each order is picked, packaged and loaded at the store and flown remotely by a certified pilot to the customer’s yard or driveway. A cable on the drone slowly lowers the package.
Walmart has been testing how the small, unmanned aircraft could change the game for retail, drive e-commerce growth and turn its stores into a way to outmatch Amazon on speed
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