沃尔玛联手Zipline扩建无人机配送网：新增300个站点，最快30分钟送达
沃尔玛11月5日在阿肯色州本顿维尔宣布，与无人机配送企业Zipline签署多年期新协议，将在全美新增300个无人机配送站点，并为后续继续扩点留出空间。沃尔玛称，它运营着全美规模最大的零售无人机配送网络，迄今已完成超过200万次无人机配送。
按双方公布的方式，顾客通过沃尔玛应用、沃尔玛官网或Zipline应用下单后，无人机把商品送到住宅的前院、后院或车道上空，在约330英尺高度悬停，用系绳把载货舱缓缓放到地面。可配送的商品有数万种，在已开通服务的地区，最快30分钟送达。
沃尔玛与Zipline自2021年开始合作。沃尔玛称，全美90%的人口居住在距一家沃尔玛门店10英里的范围内，门店网络是它铺开无人机配送的依托。Zipline方面称，按累计飞行里程计，它是全球最大的无人机配送服务商，商业自动飞行里程已达1.5亿英里，未发生过重大安全事故。
沃尔玛电子商务履约转型高级副总裁Greg Cathey说，无人机配送的意义在于，当顾客等不了的时候，可以把必需品以分钟计送到家门口。Zipline联合创始人兼首席执行官Keller Cliffton表示，与沃尔玛的合作把这项服务从新鲜事物变成了日常基础设施。德州Royse City的顾客Melanie Millsap说，无人机把奶粉和尿布送到她家前院，解决了带新生儿出门买东西的难题。
无人机配送是沃尔玛当日达体系中最快的一档，与30分钟内送达的摩托配送、1小时特快、3小时按需和预约配送等档次并行。沃尔玛没有公布300个新站点的具体名单与全部开通时间表，只表示站点将随协议在全美陆续落地。
（来源：沃尔玛）
Walmart to Add 300 Drone Delivery Sites With Zipline, Promising Delivery in as Fast as 30 Minutes
Walmart announced on November 5 at its home office in Bentonville, Arkansas, a new multi-year agreement with drone delivery company Zipline to add 300 drone delivery sites across the United States, with the potential to expand further. Walmart says it operates the nation's largest retail drone delivery program and has completed more than 2 million drone deliveries to date.
Customers order through the Walmart app, Walmart's website or the Zipline app, and the drone delivers to a home's front yard, backyard or driveway. The aircraft stays about 330 feet in the air and lowers its delivery pod on a tether. Tens of thousands of items are eligible, and where the service is available, delivery can arrive in as fast as 30 minutes.
The two companies have worked together since 2021. Walmart says 90% of America lives within 10 miles of a Walmart store, giving the drone network a dense base to build on. Zipline describes itself as the world's largest drone delivery service by miles flown, with 150 million commercial autonomous miles flown without a major safety incident.
"Drone delivery is about getting people what they need, right when they need it," said Greg Cathey, Walmart's senior vice president of eCommerce Fulfillment Transformation. Zipline co-founder and CEO Keller Cliffton said the partnership is turning drone delivery from a novelty into everyday infrastructure. Melanie Millsap, a customer in Royse City, Texas, said having formula and diapers set down in her front yard spared her trips out with a newborn.
Drone delivery is the fastest tier in Walmart's same-day lineup, alongside 30-minute-or-less delivery, Express delivery in an hour or less, on-demand delivery in three hours or less, and scheduled delivery. Walmart did not publish a full list of the 300 new sites or a complete rollout timetable, saying the sites will open across the country under the agreement.
(Source: Walmart)
来源：沃尔玛
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：Zipline配送无人机起飞（资料图）。Wikimedia Commons 图片（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 / Photo: A Zipline delivery drone at launch (file photo). Image via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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