CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Shoppers near seven Walmart stores in the Charlotte region can now have small orders dropped from the sky, as the retailer and drone operator Wing switch on aerial delivery in the area.
Wing spokesman Tom Kuhn showed off the service Tuesday at the Walmart Supercenter at 1830 Galleria Blvd. in southeast Charlotte. The other launch stores sit in Shelby, Lincolnton, Kings Mountain, Gastonia, Kannapolis and Concord, and Kuhn said more sites will join over the next few weeks. The rollout is part of a national plan by the two companies to have drones flying from upward of 270 stores by 2027.
The aircraft fly on their own, each one claiming its airspace and plotting its route. A drone weighs about 10 pounds and can haul roughly 2.5 pounds, so orders have to fit in the special boxes it carries. Groceries, meals, household goods and over-the-counter medicine are the kinds of items that qualify. The drones cover about 6 miles one way, and an order can go from checkout to the doorstep in as little as 30 minutes.
At the drop, the drone hovers around 23 feet up and lowers the box on a line, needing a clear patch about the size of a picnic blanket. Wing says customers pick an exact landing spot, such as a driveway or backyard, when they check out in its app, and they do not have to unhook anything because the package is set down before the drone leaves. The app offers a catalog of thousands of Walmart products that can go by drone, from groceries to games, and shows an arrival countdown that Wing says is accurate to within a couple of seconds.
Drone delivery shows up as a checkout choice when an account address is inside the service zone. Walmart lists a $19.99 fee per delivery for shoppers without a Walmart+ membership, but the service is free around Charlotte for a limited time. Lowe’s and Papa John’s already offer drone drop-offs in the region through Wing.
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