Walmart (NYSE:WMT) announced Wednesday that it will start testing out a drone delivery service for grocery and household products in the U.S. as it looks to expand delivery options.
The pilot project at the world's largest retailer is limited - - for now - - to just one city in North Carolina, using automated drones from partner Flytrex.
The news comes just over a week since Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) received federal approval to begin testing commercial deliveries using its drone fleet.
United Parcel Service Inc (NYSE:UPS) has also received a green light from the Federal Aviation Administration to do the same.
Walmart is stepping up efforts to better compete with Amazon after seeing online sales double in the second quarter. It recently launched Walmart+ -its answer to Amazon Prime...and it is speeding up the expansion of pick-up and delivery options… with so many consumers still wary of heading to a physical store.