Walmart first retailer to expand drone deliveries across five US states including Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, and Texas

Walmart reports the expansion of its drone delivery service. Now, millions of customers in Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Orlando and Tampa can receive their orders within minutes - making Walmart the first retailer to scale drone delivery across five US states: Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Texas.

“As we look ahead, drone delivery will remain a key part of our commitment to redefining retail. We’re pushing the boundaries of convenience to better serve our customers, making shopping faster and easier than ever before,” says Greg Cathey, Senior Vice President of Walmart U.S. Transformation and Innovation.

“This expansion of our drone delivery service marks a significant milestone in that journey. As the first retailer to scale drone delivery, Walmart is once again demonstrating its commitment to leveraging technology to enhance our delivery offerings with a focus on speed.”

The new service will launch at 100 stores, building on existing operations in Northwest Arkansas and Dallas-Fort Worth, through an agreement with Wing.

“This is real drone delivery at scale,” says Adam Woodworth, CEO at Wing. “People all around the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex have made drone delivery part of their normal shopping habits over the past year. Now we’re excited to share this ultra-fast delivery experience with millions more people across many more US cities.”

Since launching drone delivery in 2021, Walmart has completed more than 150,000 rapid deliveries. Customers are using this for key ingredients they may have forgotten during their weekly grocery trip or for urgent care items, such as OTC cold/flu medicine, baby formula and Covid tests.

2025 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS

Drone delivery will be a key focus area at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards, which are now open for entries, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our 2024 hall of fame entrants were revealed during an event which took place at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London on 21st November, and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by comedian Lucy Porter.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “The event is now into its sixth year and what a journey it has been. The awards started life as an online only affair during the Covid outbreak, before launching as a small scale in real life event and growing year on year to the point where we’re now selling out this fine, historic venue.”

He added: “Congratulations to all of our finalists. Many submissions did not make it through to the final stage, and getting to this point is no mean feat. Checkout-free stores, automated supply chains, immersive experiences, on-demand delivery, next generation loyalty offerings, inclusive retail, green technology. We’ve got all the cool stuff covered this evening.”

“But just importantly we’ve got lots of great examples of companies taking innovative tech and making it usable in everyday operations - resulting in more efficiency and profitability in all areas.”

Congratulations to our 2024 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Lucy Porter, and all those who attended November's gathering. 

For further information on the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards, please fill in the below form and we will get back to you asap.