(Credit: Wing/DoorDash)
DoorDash is expanding its drone deliveries to parts of metro Atlanta.
DoorDash holds more than half of the US food delivery market and offers drone services in parts of Charlotte, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Virginia. As in those cities, drone deliveries in Atlanta will be completed using Wing’s drones. Wing is a subsidiary of Alphabet that has similar partnerships with Walmart and Wendy’s.
“Autonomous delivery is an important part of how we’re making local commerce faster, more delightful, and more sustainable,” said Harrison Shih, head of DoorDash’s drone program. “By bringing our Wing partnership to a new city, we’re helping local merchants reach more consumers while improving speed and reliability.”
In Atlanta, drone deliveries will be available to customers near the Tanger Outlets Locust Grove mall. At launch, customers can order food from restaurants like Koji Japanese Steakhouse, Molinos Mexican Grill, and Sabrosos Mexican Restaurant.
You can visit Wing’s website to check eligibility and join a waitlist to get notified when the service becomes available in your region. If eligible, you’ll see a drone icon in the mobile app that you can tap to view available restaurants.
“If items meet size and weight requirements, consumers with an address in the eligible delivery zone can select drone delivery at checkout and track their order in real time as it arrives,” DoorDash says.
As an introductory offer, the first drone delivery order of $10 or more gets a $5 discount and free delivery. The company expects to complete these deliveries in 20 minutes.
DoorDash’s other system, which uses autonomous delivery, involves a fleet of Coco robots and its own Dot robots. Amazon has also been testing quick drone deliveries for its huge product catalog.