Wing Expands Drone Delivery to Seven New US Cities

Wing, the Alphabet-owned company that delivers groceries and even coffee using autonomous drones, is pushing into seven more U.S. cities through its partnership with Walmart. The expansion is part of a broader plan to build a drone-delivery network of more than 270 Walmart locations by next year.

The new markets include Memphis, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Salt Lake City, bringing Wing and Walmart’s total service footprint to nearly 20 U.S. markets. Wing is already delivering Walmart goods to customers in Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Greater Houston.

The company has announced plans to expand to Orlando, Tampa, Charlotte, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, and Miami as well. Walmart has experimented with drone delivery for years.

But after successful deployments with Wing in Dallas-Fort Worth and Atlanta, it upsized its commitment. In January, the companies announced plans to bring the on-demand drone-delivery service to an additional 150 Walmart stores. The upshot: Consumers are using drone delivery more than you might think.

Wing has completed more than 1 million commercial deliveries through its partnership with Walmart. Wing’s chief business officer, Heather Rivera, told TechCrunch back in January that its top 25% of customers use the service three times a week. “Our work with Walmart has shown that drone delivery isn’t just a novelty, it’s a service many customers count on multiple times per week,” Rivera said in a statement announcing the new markets.

Why this matters: The expansion of Wing's drone delivery service to new markets marks a significant milestone in the adoption of autonomous delivery technology. As Wing and Walmart continue to build out their drone-delivery network, it will be interesting to see how consumers respond to the increased availability of this service. For developers and businesses, this expansion highlights the growing viability of drone delivery as a logistics solution.

With over 1 million commercial deliveries completed, Wing has demonstrated that drone delivery can be a reliable and efficient way to get products to customers. As the service continues to grow, it will be important to watch how regulators respond to the increasing presence of drones in urban airspace. For consumers, the availability of drone delivery through Walmart and Wing offers a new level of convenience and flexibility.

However, questions remain about the long-term sustainability of the service and how it will be integrated into the broader retail landscape.