Walmart expands 30-minutes-or-less delivery as speed woos shoppers

Amazon, Uber, DoorDash, and Walmart are set to revolutionize the delivery industry with their plans to expand drone delivery services. Lindsey Austen, a resident of Richmond, Texas, experienced the future first-hand when a drone delivery accidentally dropped a package into her backyard pool. This incident highlights the challenges that drone delivery companies face as they strive to deliver packages and food reliably.

Amazon's Prime Air service is set to expand to nearly 500 U.S. cities and towns by the end of 2026, nearly six times its current footprint. The company aims to deliver millions of eligible products weighing up to five pounds in just 30 minutes. Despite facing regulatory hurdles and technical setbacks, Amazon remains committed to its vision of delivering packages by drone.

Other delivery companies are also jumping on the drone bandwagon. DoorDash recently launched DoorDash Air, a commercial drone delivery service that complements its existing fleet of Dot delivery robots and autonomous delivery partners. DoorDash has completed tens of thousands of drone deliveries, but the majority of its orders are still handled by human Dashers.

Uber is taking a different approach to drone delivery by partnering with Zipline, a drone delivery company valued at $7.6 billion. The companies aim to bring drone delivery to Uber Eats by the end of 2029, with the ambitious goal of delivering 1 million drones per day. Zipline currently operates in several cities, making a delivery somewhere in the world every 20 seconds.

They estimate there are already 5.5 billion instant deliveries annually in the U.S., excluding deliveries from major players like Amazon, UPS, and FedEx. Walmart has already achieved 2 million drone deliveries and plans to build a network of over 270 drone delivery locations in 2027. The retailer believes that drone delivery can provide customers with more control over the speed of their orders and complement their existing delivery options.