BENTONVILLE, ARK. — Walmart is rolling out its first drone delivery service at three locations in Northwest Arkansas.
The locations will operate from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days per week to deliver items to eligible Walmart customers by air in as little as 30 minutes. The service is a collaboration between Walmart and DroneUp LLC, a leading global provider of drone technology and services.
“When we invested in DroneUp earlier this year, we envisioned a drone delivery operation that could be quickly executed and replicated across multiple stores,” said Tom Ward, senior vice president of last mile at Walmart US. “Opening our first hub within months of our initial concept showcases DroneUp's ability to safely execute drone delivery operations with speed. We're already hearing great customer feedback at our first site in Farmington, Arkansas, and look forward to opening additional locations.”
DroneUp's delivery operation provides Walmart customers a safe, convenient, fast, and sustainable delivery option on thousands of items – even the most fragile, according to Walmart. Enjoying the benefits of drone delivery is as easy as:
- Verify: Customer enters their address to verify eligibility.
- Shop: Customer selects from thousands of items for delivery.
- Secure: Operators pack the order and secure the box to the drone using a patented delivery release mechanism.
- Deliver: The flight engineer manages a controlled and guided delivery, placing the order gently at the customer's home.
Eligible customers in Farmington can place orders at droneupdelivery.com. The additional locations at Walmart Neighborhood Market #5837 in Rogers and Walmart Supercenter #100 in Bentonville are planned to open in the coming months.
