Lowe’s has launched a drone delivery pilot in Charlotte, North Carolina, in partnership with DoorDash and Alphabet’s Wing. The service delivers small home improvement items, such as hand tools and paint, in as little as 20 minutes. Wing drones are capable of carrying payloads of approximately 2.5 pounds per flight.
Walmart has surpassed 1 million drone deliveries, with 40% of that volume occurring in fiscal Q1 2027. The average delivery time stands at 23 minutes, with a record speed of four minutes and 44 seconds. Amazon also plans to expand its Prime Air service to nearly 500 U.S. cities and towns by the end of 2026, having already completed hundreds of thousands of drone deliveries this year.
DoorDash reported that its drone deliveries averaged 25 minutes last year, with some participating locations seeing a 30% increase in order volume. In July, the company received Federal Aviation Administration authorization to operate its own drone delivery service. Currently, over 60% of frequently purchased items on Amazon meet Prime Air’s weight limit of 5 pounds.
Barclays research indicates that autonomous delivery costs currently range from $3 to $4 lower than conventional methods, at $5 to $7 per order. Analysts project that mature autonomous delivery systems could eventually reduce costs to approximately $1 per order. These technologies aim to improve the economics of small-basket retail transactions.
