DoorDash has announced the expansion of its partnership with Alphabet’s Wing to bring their drone delivery pilot program to the United States, with an initial launch in Christiansburg, Virginia.
Starting on Thursday, select DoorDash users in Christiansburg can now order eligible menu items from their local Wendy’s for delivery via Wing’s drones.
“We’re excited to continue our collaboration with Wing and offer our customers a new, innovative delivery option,” said Harrison Shih, Senior Director of DoorDash Labs in a press release.
The pilot program, which was first launched in Australia in 2022, has seen success with over 60 merchants utilizing drone deliveries.
For users near the Wendy’s location at 2355 N. Franklin Street, the new drone delivery option will appear on the checkout page. If selected, their order will be prepared and delivered by a Wing drone within 30 minutes.
However, certain requirements must be met in order for a delivery to be made via drone. According to DoorDash, the address must have a small clearing, approximately two meters in diameter, for the drone to safely set down. Additionally, the driveway must be free of any obstacles such as trees or protrusive objects.
- Most of Wendy’s menu items are eligible for drone delivery
- However, certain items may not be eligible due to volume and weight restrictions
- If an order exceeds what one drone can carry, up to three drones may be deployed to deliver the order
- If the order is still too large, it will be delivered traditionally by a delivery person
This launch in the U.S. is a result of Alphabet’s small-scale delivery operations in Christiansburg since 2019. DoorDash plans to expand the pilot program to other cities later this year.
“We’re optimistic about the value drone delivery will bring to our platform as we work to offer more efficient, sustainable, and convenient delivery options for consumers,” said Shih.
Wing has already partnered with companies like Walmart and Walgreens in the U.S. and has completed over 350,000 deliveries across three countries.
