Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT | WMT Price Prediction) will be able to use drones to deliver products to customers at 150 locations by the end of this year. The retailer has partnered with drone company Wing. According to The Wall Street Journal, that figure could reach 270 by next year. Given the logistical advantages of drones over trucks, if the experiment is successful, a significant portion of Walmart’s 4,600 U.S. stores could soon offer drone delivery. Wing suggests that drones could serve 40 million people by 2027.
The report points out that current Walmart drones can carry five-pound packages to a place six miles from where they are launched. That’s not very impressive. But the advances in the drone industry are quickening. People who buy a drone on Amazon can do about the same. Commercially available drones can carry a multiple of that. Military drones are often much larger and can carry much more weight.
Drone-delivered items are available for order at Walmart.com in some areas. This will include Dallas, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Miami within the next year.
While drones have advantages in terms of delivery times, they are heavily regulated. The FAA even has rules for the use of private drones. Its Recreational UAS Safety Test (TRUST) governs most of this use.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos told 60 Minutes in 2014 that drones would be part of his company’s delivery system. A decade later, it appears that will work.
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