Drone provider Zipline is adding three new clients including health and wellness retailer GNC, pharmaceutical logistics firm Associated Couriers and Seattle-based eatery Pagliacci Pizza, expanding its footprint and building on its success delivering vaccines in Africa and working with retail giant Walmart. GNC will start out with deliveries in Salt Lake City, where it has been testing the Zipline service.
Just in time for the holidays, Walmart on Monday went live with drone delivery from one of three stores near its headquarters in Bentonville, AR, via partner and investment recipient DroneUp, with service running from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week, and deliveries coming in 30 minutes or less.
Flytrex, an Israeli maker of delivery drones, has been awarded an FAA waiver to fly its drones over residential sections of Fayetteville, NC, en route to backyard wire drops of groceries and other items at up to 2,000 homes. They are coming from Walmart as well as local cafes and restaurants including Dairy Queen and Starbucks.
Worldpay is testing out a proof of concept that ties together payment verification with residential drone delivery via a special landing pad that doubles as a payment information communication system.
Ten public-private drone test projects have been approved by the Department of Transportation for various applications, including home deliveries, but Amazon was conspicuous by its absence from the group despite its high-profile Prime Air program.
UPS recently conducted a successful drone delivery test to a home in a rural area outside Tampa, FL, launching it from the top of a delivery truck. The drone was from electric truck and drone developer Workhorse Group. See what other drone projects UPS has in the works, how it is working with the FAA and how it sees the future of drone delivery.
Google has been quietly conducting drone testing for the past year through a deal with NASA, effectively skirting FAA rules that Amazon has been abiding by.
Days after going into Baltimore and Miami, Amazon Prime Now one-hour delivery is available in Dallas; Amazon also faulted the FAA on slow drone approval.
Can you pilot a drone? Then Amazon Prime Air wants you! Amazon is looking for flight operations and certification personnel for flight testing its UAS technologies. Here’s a look into Amazon’s next step toward making same-day delivery by drone a reality.
It turns out Amazon is not the only online merchant looking to get into drone fulfillment capabilities. Netflix, taking jabs at its streaming video competitor, has announced its own delivery service, “Drone 2 Home,” in a recent video mocking the futuristic service.