Walmart to launch high-tech service at 2nd store in US – and…

WALMART is set to launch a brand new method of delivery at its second US store – and it could help a select few avoid self-checkout.

Walmart joined forces with Wing, a Google owned company, in April, announcing it would begin offering drone delivery in two stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

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The service was first launched at Walmart’s supercenter in Frisco, Texas.

A second delivery location will now be added in early 2024, reports Supermarket News.

Wing is a drone company, allowing Walmart to ship deliveries to certain customers instantaneously.

It also eliminates the use of self-checkout, a source of problems for retailers and for Walmart specifically.

Currently, Wing can deliver items to roughly 60,000 houses in Frisco, Texas.

Deliveries typically take around 30 minutes, with the company claiming that it can be particularly helpful during the holiday season.

“There’s so many holiday parties going on, it’s so busy, and just last weekend I got invited to this amazing brunch,” said Wing Chief Financial Officer Shannon Nash.

“It was a holiday party. You were supposed to bring a gift, and guess what I didn’t do?”

“On the way there, I panicked. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I didn’t pick up the gift.’”

“So that took me an extra 30 minutes, and I was very late to the party.”

“If I had drone delivery, I absolutely would have been able to get ready for the party and also get the gift delivered to my house.”

Wing has been functioning in various countries aside from the US, including Australia, Finland, and Ireland.

The service has made over 350,000 deliveries, with drones being able to carry under three pounds of products.

They also travel at 65 miles per hour.

Self-checkout theft has been a topic that Walmart has been addressing over the past year.

A new measure they’ve tried to implement is the use of receipt checks.

While the measure ensures that customers leave with the items they paid for, it’s also been controversial.

The use of Wing drones could provide people with a second option, allowing them to purchase the items they want without having to interact with shoppers or with pesky self-checkout machines.