Wal-Mart To Test Home Drone Delivery

Wal-Mart is getting into the drone game.

For the past several months, according to Reuters, the world’s largest retailer has been conducting indoor tests of drones.

At the moment, Wal-Mart pursues drones from a Chinese company, SZ DJI Technology Co.

Federal regulations concerning the commercial use of drones are expected to be finalized within the next 12 months.

Upon reviewing the application, Reuters found that Wal-Mart plans to use drones for “deliveries to customers at Walmart facilities, as well as to consumer homes”.

“You test for a reason because you learn during tests and you tend to evolve and figure out which approaches are most compelling to customers and most efficient for the business”, explains Toporek.

After Wal-Mart applied for the permission, it has stood in a direct competition with Amazon which has been doing drone deliveries through its “Prime Air” service since 2013.

Even though the two companies did not officially partner with one another, Walmart used DJI drones which opens up an opportunity for the Shenzhen based company to enter a B2B model after exploring and leading the consumers and small businesses who use their drones for personal or video purposes. Commercial drone use is now illegal, though companies can apply for exemptions. FAA has asked all the drone owners, including hobbyists to get their drones registered with the government for monitoring.

It will be favourable with Wal-Mart as the FAA had recently permitted companies to use drones that are made in China, similar to what the e-commerce company is requesting.

The news comes as other giants like Google, Amazon, and Facebook have reportedly been working to implement drones with their companies.