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Title: Walmart's Drone Deliveries Expand, Now in Five Different US States

Link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/06/16/0537...

"Walmart is bringing drone deliveries to three more states," reports CNBC: On
Thursday, the big-box retailer said it plans to launch the speedier delivery
option at 100 stores in Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Orlando and Tampa within
the coming year. With the expansion, Walmart's drone deliveries will be
available in a total of five states: [parts of northwest] Arkansas, Florida,
Georgia, North Carolina and [the Dallas-Fort Worth area of] Texas... The
drone operator will have an up to a six-mile range from stores. Walmart tells
CNBC the most frequently delivered items include ice cream, fresh fruit, and
pet food, as well as "urgent items, such as hamburger buns for a cookout,
eggs to make brownies or Tylenol or cold medicine needed when sick." It's all
part of Walmart's effort to compete with Amazon: With more than 4,600 Walmart
stores across the U.S., the retailer has used its large footprint to get
online orders to customers faster. It has an Express Delivery service that
drops purchases at customers' doors in as fast as 30 minutes, along with
InHome, a subscription-based service, that puts items directly into people's
fridges. The company began same-day prescription deliveries last fall and has
expanded the service across the country.... Walmart stores have an assortment
of over 150,000 items in a location. Over 50% of those can be delivered by
drone, said Greg Cathey [Walmart's senior VP for U.S. transformation and
innovation]... Walmart's drone delivery count so far is modest. The company
did not share the specific count, but said it has racked up a total of more
than 150,000 drone deliveries since 2021.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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