Drones

Global health and wellness leader GNC is always searching for ways to streamline its operations and better serve its customers. The retailer provides a wide variety of science-based products and solutions through company-owned retail locations, domestic and international franchise locations, digital commerce, and strong wholesale and retail partnerships across the globe. In 2024, GNC began…

Optimized inventory management is essential to retailers and CPG (consumer packaged goods) brands throughout the supply chain, with each touchpoint impacting operational efficiency and profitability. At times, drones have been at the forefront of discussion around inventory management within distribution center environments, notably for their potential to autonomously carry out inventory checks. However, a closer…

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a keynote speech at CES earlier this week that the retail giant would expand its drone delivery footprint and launch an artificial intelligence-powered search tool for iOS users. McMillon said the drone delivery would be expanded to 1.8 million additional households in the Dallas-Fort Worth area later this year.…

Amazon.com said Monday it will begin delivering parcels using Prime Air drones in a small town in California later this year. More specifically, the online behemoth said it plans to deliver parcels weighing less than five pounds via drone into the backyards of residents in Lockeford, California — which is 40 miles south of Sacramento. The…

Walmart is expanding drone delivery across six states this year, making it possible for many more customers to get a box of diapers or dinner ingredients delivered in 30 minutes or less. Through an expansion with operator DroneUp, the big-box retailer said it will be able to reach 4 million households in parts of Arizona,…

Walgreens and Wing Aviation LLC, a member of the Alphabet family of companies, announced last week that it's offering what it calls "store to door" delivery of "health and wellness, food and beverage and convenience items — via state-of-the-art drone technology — in minutes," according to a press release. Wing, the first drone operator certified…

Eager to know what 2019 holds for the world of e-commerce? Here are five key e-commerce trends that promise to fuel retailers worldwide in the coming year, including the continuous rise of machine learning to a more sophisticated focus on the omnichannel customer experience, selling on social media and more. 1. Machine Learning Changes Everything…

Technology is top of mind for most retailers today, no matter their size, product category or any other variables. As such, Total Retail surveyed its audience with the goal of finding out what types of retail technology retailers are interested in (as well as investing in), what retail trends and digital trends they’re tracking, and their…

In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail reviews the week's top retail news stories, including Wal-Mart's patent for a floating warehouse, Wal-Mart's partnership with Google to enable voice shopping from the discount retail chain, and Macy's job cuts and poaching of eBay exec Hal Lawton.

Wal-Mart has opened a new front in its battle with Amazon.com. The world’s largest retailer has applied for a U.S. patent for a floating warehouse that could make deliveries via drones, which would bring products from the aircraft down to customers’ homes. The blimp-style machine would fly at heights between 500 feet and 1,000 feet (as much…