Walmart expands 30-minute drone delivery to new metro area
Walmart continues expanding the drone delivery service it operates with technology from Wing, this time focusing on the Southeast.
Walmart is now offering 30-minute drone delivery service in the Charlotte, N.C. metro area via a partnership it initially launched with Wing, an on-demand drone delivery provider powered by Google parent company Alphabet, for drone delivery in the Dallas-Fort Worth market in 2023.
This move also continues Walmart’s progress toward its goal of reaching more than 270 total stores across the country with drone delivery by 2027, ultimately reaching more than 10% of the U.S. population.
To date, Walmart is the first retailer to scale drone delivery across five states: Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Texas. So far in 2026, Walmart has also launched Wing drone delivery in Orlando and Greater Houston.
The retailer also plans to introduce delivery via Wing drone in Memphis, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, the San Francisco Bay Area and Salt Lake City; and will soon launch the service in Seattle and Denver.
[READ MORE: Walmart to bring 30-minute drone delivery to two new markets]
Wing’s drones fly at speeds up to 60 mph and use a tether to lower packages directly to a customer’s yard or driveway in as fast as 30 minutes. Customers can place Walmart delivery orders via Wing drone as follows:
- Once drone delivery of a curated catalog of thousands of eligible items is available, customers within range will see the drone option on the Walmart app or website based on the address associated with their account. Customers can also place a Walmart drone delivery directly through the Wing app.
- During checkout, the app will prompt the customer to select a precise delivery location, such as a driveway or backyard.
- Customers can track their delivery in real time with a countdown feature that Wing says is accurate within a couple seconds.
- When an order arrives, there is no need to unclip the package. Customers can grab their goods after they have been lowered to the ground and the drone has flown away.
Walmart also offers drone-based food delivery via Zipline drones in Rowlett, Texas.
Based in Bentonville, Ark., Walmart Inc. runs 10,900 stores and numerous e-commerce websites in 19 countries.
