Lowe’s is launching a drone delivery service with DoorDash and Alphabet’s Wing, offering more than 100 home improvement products to customers in Matthews, North Carolina, in as little as 20 minutes.
The pilot scheme allows eligible shoppers to select drone delivery through DoorDash. Orders weighing about 2.5lb or less can currently be flown within a five-mile radius of the store.
Lowe’s said the service is the first of its kind in the home improvement retail sector, and that it could be expanded beyond the North Carolina location if testing proves successful.
Seemantini Godbole, Lowe’s chief information and artificial intelligence officer, said the service was designed for customers who discover they are missing an item part-way through a project.
“Drone delivery fits perfectly because this was one of the friction points, like you’re doing a project, and you’re getting interrupted,” she said. “You never left your home, you never left your job site, and then you just continued with the project. That’s the whole premise.”
The company’s technology teams are visiting the store each day to monitor the operation and gather feedback from employees and DoorDash, Ms Godbole said.
“We are observing. We are listening to the feedback from our store associates and from DoorDash, and we could make changes as needed and be really agile, and so that’s why we started here,” she said.
Drone delivery faces noise and privacy concerns
Lowe’s is joining Amazon, Walmart and Uber Eats in using drones as part of its delivery services. Ms Godbole said the retailer’s distinction was being the first home improvement business to offer the option.
Drone delivery has faced criticism from people concerned about noise and privacy, while operating in more crowded airspace requires regulatory approval. Lowe’s said it was working to ensure its drones met the relevant standards, with support from DoorDash and Wing.
Ms Godbole said the trial was part of a wider effort to improve same-day delivery and introduce technology into the retailer’s operations, including artificial intelligence tools for store associates.
“When associates and customers are interacting with Lowe’s, I really want the technology to disappear, and I want the experience to shine through,” she said. “I want them to remember the projects they are doing, the items they are buying, the fulfilment experience they got, and all our technology efforts are geared towards that.”
