Wing launches DoorDash drone delivery

The drone service kicked off last week with a test pilot program in Logan, Queensland. DoorDash and Wing will pilot the drone delivery service in select suburbs in the Logan community, delivering a range of convenience and grocery items, pantry staples, snacks, and household essentials with the ambition to make deliveries in 15 minutes or less.

Customers will be able to access the drone service via the DoorDash app. Wing drones can carry a payload of just over 1kg, and travel at a speed of around 110km/h.

Sustainability and innovation is at the core of this collab. With Wing drones having a reasonably small payload, this will help eliminate unnecessary journeys via car. Customers and DoorDash ‘dashers’ won’t need to hop in the car to pick up small items.

On how this may effect the dashers workload, DoorDash projects that Drone delivery will provide a complement to ground delivery services fulfilled by delivery riders and drivers. Rather than changing the volume of orders on the DoorDash platform available to delivery riders and drivers, the goal is to provide consumers with an efficient and sustainable delivery option for very small orders while creating incremental order growth across the platform.

DoorDash General Manager Rebecca Burrows identifies efficient, sustainable deliveries and the complementary nature of this platform as the key priorities going forward for the platform. “Drone delivery can provide an excellent complement to our ground delivery services,” said Burrows. “Delivery drones create a quick, efficient delivery option for smaller orders weighing just over a kilo, and free up ground delivery services for larger deliveries that provide better compensation to drivers.”

DoorDash has seen positive growth since its launch in Australia in 2019. According to DoorDash’s 2022 report 2022 Restaurant Online Ordering Trends, same-store pickup orders in Australia using the DoorDash app increased 90% year over year while delivery orders increased 92%.

“We cannot be more excited to be at the forefront of drone deliveries,” said Burrows. “Wing affords our customers the convenience and speed of air travel deliveries, of the local products and brands they know and love.”

Simon Rossi, Wing Australia General Manager is equally excited to launch this new service. “We’re excited to be extending our drone delivery capability by making it available to customers through the DoorDash app, offering DoorDash customers added convenience.”

As Australia’s first on-demand drone delivery service, Wing is investing in a range of local pilot programs. Recently, Wing launched a collaboration with Coles, directly servicing the supermarket’s customers. Since its Australian launch three years ago, Wing has collaborated with various partners such as Vicinity to provide rooftop deliveries, KFC, and Roll’d among other brands.

“Wing has traditionally provided delivery services directly to residential and business customers,” said Rossi. “To further accelerate our technology development, we’ll be increasingly working with marketplaces and logistics partners to expand their delivery options, making fast drone delivery affordable and sustainable for them, and their customers.”

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