Drone delivery may not be new anymore

Wing, the Alphabet-owned company that delivers groceries and even coffee using autonomous drones, is heading to seven more US 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. New markets include Memphis, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco Bay Area and Salt Lake City, bringing Wing and Walmart’s total service reach to nearly 20 U.S. markets.

Wing already delivers Walmart items to customers in Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth and greater Houston. The company has announced plans to expand into Orlando, Tampa, Charlotte, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Los Angeles and Miami as well.

Walmart has been experimenting with drone delivery for years. But after successful deployments with Wing in Dallas-Fort Worth and Atlanta, it has increased its commitment. In January, the two companies announced plans to bring on-demand drone delivery to an additional 150 Walmart stores.

The result: Consumers are using drone delivery more than you think. Wing has completed more than 1 million merchant deliveries through its partnership with Walmart.

The top 25% of customers use the service three times a week, Heather Rivera, Wing’s chief business officer, told TechCrunch in January.

“Our work with Walmart has shown that drone delivery is not just a novelty, but a service that many customers rely on multiple times a week,” Rivera said in a statement announcing the new markets.