Walmart Adds 300 Zipline Drone Delivery Sites in Multi-Year Deal

Walmart has signed a multi-year agreement with Zipline to add 300 drone delivery sites nationwide, with room to grow the partnership further. The retailer calls the program the nation's largest retail drone delivery operation, and the numbers back the claim: more than 2 million deliveries completed to date.

The deal extends a partnership that began in 2021. Walmart says 90 percent of Americans live within 10 miles of a Walmart store, and it is leaning on that footprint to scale the service. Tens of thousands of eligible items are available for drone delivery in as little as 30 minutes where the service operates. Walmart did not disclose where the new sites will be located.

"Whether it's the missing frosting for a birthday cake, running out of coffee and creamer on a Monday morning or a new pack of tennis balls before heading to the court, drone delivery gives customers a fast way to get what they need in just minutes," Walmart said in announcing the expansion.

Greg Cathey, SVP of e-commerce fulfillment transformation, framed the repeat-usage case plainly: "We see customers try drone delivery for the novelty and then continue to come back to it for the convenience when they need something in minutes."

Cathey added: "Walmart's stores put us close to the communities we serve. With Zipline, we can build on that proximity and bring this fast delivery option to even more customers across the country."

How the service works

Customers in range see drone delivery as an option in the Walmart app or on Walmart.com. They add items to their cart, place the order and track the drone as it flies to their home, landing the package in the front yard, backyard or driveway. Eligible addresses can also order through the Zipline app.

Zipline, the world's largest drone delivery service by miles flown, has logged 150 million commercial autonomous miles. Its two-part architecture keeps the drone roughly 330 feet above the ground while a tethered pod descends with the order — a design that avoids landing a drone in a customer's yard.

"Five years ago, Walmart and Zipline made our first deliveries together. Back then, the idea of autonomous delivery seemed impossible to most people. Today, customers order from us multiple times a day," said Keller Cliffton, CEO and co-founder of Zipline.

Cliffton added: "When you can get what you need in 10-30 minutes it takes a huge amount of anxiety out of life. People can plan their lives around their loved ones, not errands. Now, with Walmart, we're going to expand this tech to homes throughout the country."

Where drones fit in Walmart's delivery stack

Drone delivery ranks among the fastest options in Walmart's same-day portfolio, which includes:

• 30-minute-or-less delivery in select markets
• Express delivery in an hour or less
• On-Demand delivery in as soon as three hours
• Scheduled delivery windows

The context matters. Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart serves roughly 280 million customers and members weekly across more than 10,900 stores and e-commerce sites in 19 countries, with fiscal year 2026 revenue of $713 billion.

What does this change for shoppers? For households near the new sites, an emergency carton of creamer becomes a 30-minute errand run from a phone — no car, no checkout line. For competitors, the bar for ultra-fast convenience delivery just moved again.