7-Eleven in the US has conducted its first autonomous drone delivery, bringing slurpees, a chicken sandwich, doughnuts and hot coffee right to a customer’s doorstep.
The delivery, in partnership with US drone delivery service Flirtey, was conducted in celebration of the convenience chain’s 89th birthday. The drone delivery is the first time a US customer has received a package to their home via drone.
At a Reno, Nevada 7 Eleven store, two deliveries were successfully completed. 7 Eleven merchandise – including hot and cold food items – was loaded into a Flirtey drone delivery container and flown autonomously using precision GPS to a local customer’s house. Once at the customer’s backyard, the Flirtey drone hovered in place and lowered each package.
The purchases were delivered to the residents in the span of a few minutes. Products included Slurpee drinks, a chicken sandwich, doughnuts, hot coffee and 7-Select candy. In the future, both companies expect drone packages to include “everyday essentials” such as batteries and sunscreen.
Building on this initial collaboration, the two companies have plans to expand drone delivery tests and work closely together, according to 7 Eleven EVP and chief merchandising officer, Jesus H. Delgado-Jenkins.
“Drone delivery is the ultimate convenience for our customers and these efforts create enormous opportunities to redefine convenience,” said Mr. Delgado-Jenkins.
“This delivery marks the first time a retailer has worked with a drone delivery company to transport immediate consumables from store to home. In the future, we plan to make the entire assortment in our stores available for delivery to customers in minutes. Our customers have demanding schedules, are on-the-go 24/7 and turn to us to help navigate the challenges of their daily lives. We look forward to working with Flirtey to deliver to our customers exactly what they need, whenever and wherever they need it.”
The deliveries also mark Flirtey’s largest commercial relationship to date and bring the drone delivery startup even closer to its vision of reinventing the delivery process for humanitarian, online retail and food delivery industries.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to have 7 Eleven, the largest convenience chain in the world, embracing new technologies and working with us at Flirtey to make drone delivery a reality for customers all over the world,” said Flirtey CEO, Matt Sweeny.
“This is just the first step in our collaboration with 7 Eleven. Flirtey’s historic drone deliveries to date have been stepping stones to store-to-home drone delivery, and today is a giant leap toward a not-too-distant future where we are delivering you convenience on demand.”
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