 |
|
|
|||||
Our sky-mall future is officially here: Walmart and drone company Wing are rolling out drone delivery to a number of additional metro areas in what the companies are calling the worlds largest drone delivery expansion” ever. The service will be available for Walmart customers in Atlanta; Charlotte, North Carolina; Houston; Orlando, Florida; and Tampa, Florida, by midyear 2026, the companies said Thursday. The announcement means that more than 100 Walmart stores in those cities will be folded into its Wing delivery partnership, including the 18 Supercenters in the Dallas area, where the two companies have already sent customer orders flying. Drone delivery is already real for millions of people in places like Dallas-Fort Worth, Wing CEO Adam Woodworth tells Fast Company. “We’re excited to make it real for more people than ever before. [Image: Walmart] Identified flying objects Business-to-consumer drone delivery still felt like a far-off proposition not that long ago, but the market is poised to explode. A recent report from PwC estimated that $251 million worth of goods were delivered globally to consumers by drone last year, a number that could reach $65.2 billion by 2034. Walmart, however, does not have the U.S. skies all to itself. Amazon, whose founder, Jeff Bezos, famously introduced the idea of drone delivery to American viewers on a 2013 episode of 60 Minutes, has set a goal of delivering 500 million packages a year via drone by the end of the 2020s. Walmart first launched drone delivery with Wing in fall 2023, and it works in a fairly simple way: Customers place an order with Walmart (or through Wings marketplace, or a third-party service such as DoorDash), and select drone delivery, while specifying an exact delivery location. [Photo: Walmart] The drone is loaded up with a customers order, takes off, and travels up to 65 mph to the location. In all, customers can receive their orders much faster than through other delivery methods, as the drones can cut across the sky, avoiding traffic and other obstacles. We find drone delivery takes off in more densely populated areas where people rely on personal cars, says Woodworth, such as sprawling cities like Dallas. Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida offer some of the same advantages Wing and Walmart have seen in Texas, with a real appetite from customers and government partners ready and excited to work with us and bring drone delivery to their communities. Walmarts leadership is likewise excited about the expansion. As we look ahead, drone delivery will remain a key part of our commitment to redefining retail,” said Greg Cathey, Walmart’s senior vice president of U.S. transformation and innovation, in a statement. “Were pushing the boundaries of convenience to better serve our customers, making shopping faster and easier than ever before.”
Category:
E-Commerce
Basketball fans are keeping their eye on the ball, and soon the screen, as Game 1 of the NBA Finals begins tonight. The Oklahoma City Thunder are set to face off with the Indiana Pacers on Thursday, June 5, with an 8:30 p.m. ET tip-off at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. The game will see Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton square off against Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the battle for the championship trophy. Lets recap some team history and developments before we dive into how to watch the big game live. Pacers vs. Thunder: How did we get here? The Oklahoma City Thunder return to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2012, after defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves in the playoffs, 124-94, in Game 5. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took home the NBA’s most valuable player award after he led the regular season in scoring with 32.7 points per game and 6.4 assists per game. (Oklahoma City lost Game 3 of the West Finals to Minnesota, 143-101, making the Thunder just one of three teams in the history of the NBA to lose a game in a series by 40 or more points, and then go on to win the series.) Meanwhile, the fourth-seeded Indiana Pacers arrive at the finals after outpacing the New York Knicks in six games. “We understand the magnitude of the opponent,” Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle told CBS Sports. “Oklahoma City has been dominant all year long.” What is the full schedule for the NBA Finals? Here’s the series breakdown: Game 1: Thursday, June 5, at 8:30 p.m. ET in Oklahoma City Game 2: Sunday, June 8, at 8 p.m. ET in Oklahoma City Game 3: Wednesday, June 11, at 8:30 p.m. ET in Indianapolis Game 4: Friday, June 13, at 8:30 p.m. ET in Indianapolis Game 5 (if necessary): Monday, June 16, at 8:30 p.m. ET in Oklahoma City Game 6 (if necessary): Thursday, June 19, at 8:30 p.m. ET in Indianapolis Game 7 (if necessary): Sunday, June 22, at 8 p.m. ET in Oklahoma City Up-to-date game day information is available on the NBA’s website. How can I watch or livestream the NBA Finals? In the United States, the NBA Finals will air live on ABC. ABC is available for traditional cable viewers and free with an over-the-air antenna. Cable subscribers can also watch ABC live through the ABC website. Cord-cutters also have the option to stream on Fubo, which carries ABC, using the app or website. The 2025 NBA Finals can also be accessed on ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes, and the ESPN app.
Category:
E-Commerce
Billionaire entrepreneur and Wonder CEO Marc Lore has confirmed that his food and restaurant technology startup is planning for an initial public offering. And though it won’t happen right away, he offered a very specific time frame. “We’re going to IPO [and we’re] kind of working backwards from March 30, 2028,” Lore said on Thursday at Fast Company‘s Most Innovative Companies Summit in New York. “Whether we hit it or not, we will see. He added that a full board of directors will be in place and that the restaurant technology startup wants to “look and act like a public company” by the end of next year in preparation for the future offering. “So all of 2027, we get four quarters of practice,” Lore said. “That was really important to me to get four quarters of practice where we’re giving EPS [earnings per share] guidance, having quarterly earnings calls, doing the comp committee, treating it like a public company. So when we go public in Q1 of 2028, we’ve already had that muscle.” He predicted an accelerating growth rate for the business, continuing through 2028 with $5 billion in revenue, and additional “big growth” in 2029. The ‘Amazon of food’ grows up Wonder, which Lore has described as a kind of “Amazon for food and beverage,” has brick-and-mortar restaurants and a vertically integrated food delivery app. Lore is working to revolutionize the food and restaurant space by building a “superapp for mealtime”one that blends food delivery, AI-driven nutrition, and smart restaurant tech. The company most recently secured $600 million in a funding round backed by Google Ventures, for a post-funding valuation of $7 billion, according to PitchBook. Wonder ranks No. 45 on Fast Company’s World’s Most Innovative Companies list for 2025. The ultimate goal? To become the platform that meets all your food needs while embracing personalized dining, driven by AI, Lore said. The startup has also acquired a number of food companies, including Blue Apron, Grubhub, and the media brand Tastemade. When asked by Mansueto Ventures CEO Stephanie Mehta why an IPO is the goal, Lore replied, “I am really excited about having that public currency.” The entrepreneur has founded a number of notable companies, including Jet.com, which he sold to Walmart nine years ago. “I think there’s so much growth and potential in this business that we could put a lot of capital to work, even post-IPO,” Lore said. “I’m excited to do some big acquisitions.”
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||