The acquisition of Whole Foods by Amazon has been the focus of much attention over the last week. And it’s not only retailers that are taking notice. With our increased desire for delivered goods, drone companies are looking toward Amazon as a way to shepherd in the use of drones in mainstream retail.
Amazon is, in many respects, primed for success in such a market, especially with the creation of its Prime Air drone delivery platform. In March, Amazon completed its first public demonstration of drone deliveries, ferrying sunscreen to attendees at an Amazon-hosted conference in California. Most recently, we saw news of the creation of a new research and development facility near Paris, where about a dozen software engineers and developers are working to ensure flying delivery vehicles don’t collide with buildings, trees, other drones, and birds.
In a quest to understand the impact of drones on retail services, I spoke to Yariv Bash, co-founder and CEO of drone manufacturing company Flytrex.
Last year, Flytrex successfully rolled out a drone delivery service with the Ukranian postal service to deliver goods up to 1kg (2.2 pounds) over 23km (14.3 miles). Flytex’s main focus, however, is enterprise customers who not only want to purchase a fleet of drones, but also the accompanying control and monitoring systems. Perhaps the biggest selling point their drones is their convenience — they can be taken out of the box, charged, connected to an accompanying app, and used.
According to Bash, over 25 million parcels are transported around the world every day, with the majority weighing less than 2 pounds — ideal for drone delivery.
“By acquiring Whole Foods, Amazon gets its hands on prime real estate for drone stations in every major city,” Bash said. “By optimizing Whole Foods’ warehouses with Amazon’s Kiva robots, additional space can be created to store drones and to stock Amazon’s top selling products. This would allow Amazon products to be delivered locally and on-demand by drones from Whole Foods stores.”
The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) published new regulations for commercial drones in August last year. Under the new rules, operators can’t fly drones higher than 400 feet, or at night. The drones must also weigh less than 55 pounds and constantly remain in the sight of a human operator — a rule that prohibits any kind of long-distance drone use, including basic delivery. People also cannot operate drones from a moving vehicle unless in a “sparsely populated area.”
As a result, it’s likely that we’ll see drones as part of a logistics package where they complement road vehicles, rather than replace them.
“The drone will be a key component of the supply chain from warehouse to the customer, with increased benefits as goods warehouses become more automated,” Bash said.
