Walgreens continues trials of the drone delivery system it is developing with Wing. FOX Business’ Hillary Vaughn shows us how it works.
Walgreens’ pilot drone delivery program has launched into skies over Christiansburg, Virginia, as the pharmacy partnered with Alphabet subsidiary Wing.
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FOX Business’ Hillary Vaughn was in Christiansburg with the Wing team to demonstrate how the system works.
Walgreens customers can order over 100 different products using the Wing mobile app, FOX Business reported.
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Once the order is placed, workers at the Wing facility package the orders in shipping containers. These containers house the various items customers can choose from.
Once selected, Vaughn said the packaged order is then walked to the pickup zone.
“They’re going to be essentially meeting the drone that’s now lifting off, getting ready to take the package,” Vaughn said of the Wing workers.
Wing drone carrying a Walgreens package. (Photo: Walgreens)
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At that point, Vaughn watched as a drone hovering overhead, lowered a hook that a Wing worker can attach the order to. The drone raised the package to a secure position on its underbelly and sped away to complete the delivery.
It arrived at the customer’s doorstep in minutes, Vaughn said.
“It’s kind of like a highway in the sky,” Vaughn said. “Thanks to this fleet of 3-pound drones that fly 65 mph, it can go as far as 12 miles roundtrip.”
The drones are able to carry payloads equal to their own weight.
Wing’s drones have specially designed propellers to minimize noise. (Matt Gentry/The Roanoke Times via AP)
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“Walgreens tells us this program is a way for them to compete with Amazon but also with direct retail competitors like CVS and Rite Aid,” Vaughn said.
The company, she said, is currently in talks with regulators as they hope to begin delivering prescription medication to customers’ doors.
Wing has also partnered with FedEx to use drones to complete the last mile of the shipping giant’s deliveries.
“I talked to FedEx this morning, and they say it’s not only cost-effective for them, but it’s also a game-changer in rural areas, because the drone is not constrained by weather, and it’s a lot more reliable for them,” Vaughn told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo.
FedEx, she said, believes the move will ultimately save them a lot of money.
