DoorDash, a food delivery platform, has partnered with Alphabet’s Wing to initiate a drone delivery pilot program in the US, specifically catering to the fast-food chain Wendy’s.
The initiative comes after the successful collaboration between DoorDash and Wing in Australia, which started in November 2022 and has now grown to include three locations with 60 participating merchants.
The pilot program in the US has been initiated in Christiansburg, Virginia, allowing local customers to order from Wendy’s via the DoorDash platform for drone delivery.
Customers eligible for the service will see the drone delivery option on the DoorDash app’s checkout page.
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After the rollout in Christiansburg, DoorDash and Wing are exploring the possibility of expanding the drone delivery pilot to more US cities later this year.
Harrison Shih, the Senior Director at DoorDash Labs, stated, “We are thrilled to broaden our collaboration with Wing in the US by incorporating drone delivery into DoorDash’s services. At DoorDash, we are dedicated to enhancing last-mile logistics through a multi-modal delivery platform that benefits all participants in our marketplace.”
“We are certain that drone delivery will improve our platform by offering customers more economical, environmentally friendly, and practical delivery options.”
Customers in Christiansburg choosing drone delivery can anticipate their meal to be delivered in 30 minutes or less.
Wing has mentioned that its drones will fly at approximately 65mph (104km/h), then decelerate and hover to carefully lower the order at the customer’s doorstep using a tether.
The new delivery method complements the current driver-based service, providing a fast and eco-friendly option for small, short-distance orders.
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Cosimo Leipold, Head of Partnerships at Wing, stated, “The expansion of our partnership with DoorDash and the launch in the US stem directly from the success of our initial collaboration in Australia. There, Wing has served tens of thousands of customers through the DoorDash app for over a year.”
“Wing has shipped more than 350,000 items in three different nations. Moving forward, our priority is to offer a fast, affordable, and secure service to our partners, enabling them to enhance their customer experience. This milestone marks a significant expansion of our service in the US and aligns with our mutual objective to improve the last-mile delivery ecosystem.”