Dive Brief:
- Over the course of November, 7-Eleven teamed with Flirtey to make 77 separate drone deliveries from store to home in Nevada, according to a recent press release.
- On average, each delivery took less than 10 minutes from order time to delivery receipt. The technology is powered by a custom app wherein a customer requests a good, a drone is loaded with the product and GPS enables delivery to a customer's house.
- 7-Eleven announced the Flirtey partnership in July, and both companies are looking to expand the service's availability next year.
Dive Insight:
While instant delivery seems a far-off concept, drones are rapidly rising to the challenge.
Nevada-based Flirtey continues to prove the viability of drones in last-mile delivery. This week alone, the company announced it had transported relief goods from a ship to a store, and most recently revealed the results of its month-long commercial pilot program with 7-Eleven.
As drones are limited to carrying small to moderate-size items (most of the time), the partnership with 7-Eleven reveals a natural fit for the technology which differentiates it from other last-mile options. That is, instant delivery for instant needs — like milk, cough syrup or potato chips. 7-Eleven's store model is therefore a perfect fit for the technology.
Details such as weight limits and ever-present privacy laws may slow the presence of commercial drone deliveries, but neither detail is likely to stop them. Accuracy and economics will prevail, and we should soon be seeing flyers en route to somewhere, turning us all into modern-day Jetsons.
