Drones the next frontier of delivery, says DoorDash, as it takes wraps off new local commerce service
DoorDash has launched Air, a drone programme designed and built in-house at DoorDash Labs. The on demand delivery big hitter has earned Federal Aviation Administration Part 135 air carrier certification, clearing it to operate its own drone delivery service for local commerce.
It already has partnerships in this space with Alphabet's Wing and Israeli company Flytrex. Those will remain in play, but DoorDash will now develop its own custom made drone and manage many of its own air deliveries.
“I believe drones are the next frontier of delivery, and what we’ve learned after years of progress is that you have to solve the full end-to-end system to find out what works and what scales with your customer,” says Stanley Tang, Co-founder at DoorDash. “The aircraft is one unique challenge, but the bigger problem I’m most excited about is the ground infrastructure: enabling autonomy to work seamlessly inside one of the largest delivery networks in the world. A delivery drone or ground robot is worthless if it doesn't connect a customer who needs something with a local merchant selling it.”
He adds: “Across billions of orders and millions of customers, we’ve been purposeful about building our autonomous delivery network with the integration of drones and Dot (the company’s first autonomous delivery robot") in a way that helps businesses reach more customers faster. We attract builders. People come here to solve real problems and see their work show up in the physical world, not to sit in R&D hell or in a demo that never moves outside the lab.”
Walmart and Wing
Walmart and Alphabet’s Wing drone delivery offering this week started service across Central Florida, marking the expansion of the nation’s largest such network into the state. The companies say that they are now making deliveries in as fast as 30 minutes from multiple local Walmart Supercenters.
Walmart customers in Greater Orlando can now use the service. Over the next year, Wing and Walmart are expanding drone delivery to 270+ stores, with a view to building a coast to coast network in 2027, ultimately reaching over 10% of the US population. They claim that the offering solves unique local dynamics by bypassing grueling traffic, helping retirement communities get groceries and medicine without braving the severe summer heat, and showcasing retail tech to Orlando's global tourist audience.
“We measure success in minutes saved and life made a little easier in Central Florida,” says Heather Rivera, Wing’s Chief Business Officer. “Whether it’s helping a family grab a quick lunch without loading everyone into the car, or delivering sunscreen to a visitor at their vacation rental, we want drone delivery to be a simple, seamless part of daily routines.”
“We’re always looking for new ways to give customers more choice and flexibility,” says Greg Cathey, Senior Vice President, eCommerce Fulfillment Transformation at Walmart. “Working with Wing allows us to bring Orlando customers a wide assortment of everyday items through one of the fastest and most innovative delivery options available.”
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
Autonomous delivery will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.
The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.
Check out our 2025 winners here.
Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.
