How we know: Wing's and Walmart's announcements of June 5, 2025. All figures are the companies' own. Wing is owned by Google's parent company, Alphabet.
RetailCase study
Walmart and Wing say drone delivery is coming to 100 more stores within a year. Here's what they've shown so far.
The plan adds Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Orlando and Tampa to the 18 Dallas-Fort Worth stores already flying. Walmart says it has made more than 150,000 drone deliveries since 2021.
June 2025 — Walmart and drone company Wing say they'll add drone delivery at 100 more Walmart stores in five metro areas "by this time next year." Here's what changed for Walmart shoppers so far, what it cost, and what went wrong.
Cost and outcome (as of June 2025)
- Target: 100 more stores in Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Orlando and Tampa within a year. (Wing)
- Live now with Wing: 18 Supercenters in Dallas-Fort Worth, covering a population of nearly 2 million. (Wing)
- Deliveries to date: more than 150,000 since Walmart launched drone delivery in 2021; not broken out by partner (the same release notes Zipline also flies from Walmart stores in Dallas-Fort Worth). (Walmart)
- Speed: average fulfillment under 19 minutes in DFW, Wing says. (Wing)
- Cost to customers and to Walmart: Not disclosed.
What they announced
Wing said the companies would bring drone delivery to 100 additional Walmart stores across Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Orlando and Tampa "by this time next year," plus more stores in Dallas-Fort Worth. Walmart said the expansion would take its drone service to five states: Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Texas.
Wing CEO Adam Woodworth said: "This is real drone delivery at scale." Greg Cathey, Walmart's senior vice president of US transformation and innovation, called the expansion "a significant milestone."
What's running today
Wing and Walmart opened their first site together in fall 2023. Wing says it now flies from 18 Walmart Supercenters in Dallas-Fort Worth, covering a population of nearly 2 million. It reports "thousands of weekly deliveries" and an average fulfillment time under 19 minutes. Wing doesn't define where that clock starts and stops.
Walmart says it has made more than 150,000 drone deliveries since it launched drone delivery in 2021. The release doesn't say how many of those were Wing's. Walmart says the new stores build on existing drone operations in Northwest Arkansas as well as Dallas-Fort Worth.
How it works
Walmart says Wing's drones fly beyond visual line of sight, or BVLOS. That means the operator can't see the aircraft directly and relies on onboard systems and remote monitoring instead. It says the aircraft range is up to 6 miles from the store, and promises delivery in 30 minutes or less.
Wing says its drones fly at up to 60 mph. Walmart says the most frequently delivered items include bananas, lemons, limes, Great Value eggs, ice cream and pet food. It says customers also use drones for urgent items such as cold and flu medicine, baby formula and COVID tests. Customers choose a precise drop spot, such as a front or back yard, and the drone lowers the package to the ground.
What it doesn't tell you
Neither company gave a price for customers or said what each delivery costs Walmart. Neither said how many deliveries each store makes, or how many households in the new metros will be in range. The 150,000-delivery total covers about four years and isn't split by partner, so it says little about volume per store.
The 100-store target has a short deadline. Walmart says Wing flies within FAA guidelines, but neither company said how many of the 100 sites already had the approvals or equipment in place, or named the stores.
The headline promise is the date. "By this time next year" means about June 2026. That's the yardstick we'll hold them to.
What went wrong
- No independent numbers. Every figure comes from Wing or Walmart.
- Blended totals. The 150,000 deliveries span four years and aren't broken out by partner or store.
- No economics. No customer price or cost per delivery.
- What we don't know yet: how many of the 100 stores will be live by June 2026, delivery volumes per store, and whether noise or privacy concerns slow approvals in new cities.
Our follow-up question for Walmart
How many deliveries does a typical drone store make each week, and what does a drone delivery cost Walmart compared with a car or van delivery from the same store?
Sources
- Wing, “Wing and Walmart announce world's largest drone delivery expansion,” June 5, 2025. wing.com
- Walmart, “Walmart Takes Flight With Drone Delivery Expansion to Five New Cities, Redefining Fast, Flexible Retail,” June 5, 2025. corporate.walmart.com
© 2026 Real World Wire. Written October 25, 2026.