Walmart enters battle with Amazon in drone delivery

The world's largest retailer Walmart has entered the “drone wars”: it, like Amazon, which overtakes it in online sales, is launching a test delivery of orders by drones.

Walmart has begun trial deliveries of purchases, including groceries, in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The range of the unmanned delivery is 10 km, the maximum purchase weight is 3.2 kg. The tests are timed to coincide with the launch of Walmart+ premium delivery on September 15 ($98 per year).

So Walmart is trying to create an alternative to the popular Amazon Prime premium delivery, writes Bloomberg. Both mega-retailers have grown their customer base during the pandemic, and now their task is not to let them go to a competitor by providing the fastest and easiest delivery methods.

Walmart is following a contract model for drone delivery, with Flytrex providing the drone delivery service. The retailer has previously tested unmanned delivery of goods by car to stores with Ford Motor, Gatik and Nuro.

At the end of August, the US FAA allowed Amazon to conduct extended testing of drone parcel delivery, giving it the status of an air carrier. Its basic model ensures the delivery of cargo weighing up to 2.5 kg to a distance of 12 km from the warehouse in half an hour. Packages of this mass account for 75-90% of Amazon orders.