Dive Brief:
- Amazon is expanding its drone delivery capabilities to nearly 500 cities and towns by the end of 2026, a sixfold increase from its current footprint, the e-commerce giant announced Wednesday.
- The company expects its Prime Air service to launch soon in the metro areas of Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Boise, Idaho; and Syracuse, New York, in addition to other communities. Amazon's drones currently deliver in parts of seven states, including Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska and Texas.
- Prime Air offers delivery of millions of items — including groceries, electronics and household goods — in as fast as 30 minutes, but most deliveries occur around an hour after the order is made, according to Amazon's announcement. Drone delivery is not available at night, during heavy winds or unfavorable weather, per the company's website.
Amazon is expanding its drone delivery availability
Dive Insight:
Amazon has gradually been testing and scaling its capabilities in the years since founder Jeff Bezos unveiled the company's drone delivery ambitions in 2013, navigating regulatory hurdles and industry-wide challenges to mass adoption along the way. Udit Madan, Amazon SVP of worldwide operations, called the latest expansion "a huge milestone for the Prime Air team" in a LinkedIn post.
"They have been building a scalable drone delivery program for years, working through challenges that didn't have precedents," Madan wrote, referencing the Prime Air team. "They worked closely with regulators to establish a safety certification process for commercial drone delivery. They iterated through generations of hardware to find what could fly reliably in real-world conditions."
The expansion announced Wednesday aims to bring speedy drone delivery to tens of millions of U.S. customers as Amazon battles Walmart and others for fast shipping supremacy. Walmart continues to expand its drone delivery coverage across the U.S. with partner Wing, and DoorDash recently unveiled its in-house drone program after landing Federal Aviation Administration clearance.
Amazon has already delivered hundreds of thousands of packages by drone this year, David Carbon, VP of Amazon Prime Air, said in the announcement. Nearly all items that weigh 5 pounds or less and can fit in a large shoebox — such as Apple iPhones or Ring doorbells — are able to be delivered via Amazon drone. This covers over 60% of the most frequently purchased items on Amazon.
"The logic is that the faster Amazon can deliver, the more purchases it can capture that might otherwise require a trip to a store," Zak Stambor, principal analyst of retail and e-commerce at Emarketer, wrote on LinkedIn.
While Amazon's drone delivery expansion is focused on suburban areas, the emerging transportation method could eventually come in handy in rural markets, Stambor added.
"In areas where stores are farther away and traditional last-mile delivery is more challenging, drones could complement Amazon’s existing logistics network and make fast delivery available to consumers who have fewer convenient options," he wrote.
Customers without a Prime membership pay a $4.99 fee for drone delivery. Prime members pay a $2.99 fee, unless the order is $50 or more, in which case drone delivery is free.
