May 26, 2022: -This year, Walmart is developing drone delivery across six states, which makes it possible for many customers to get some diapers or dinner ingredients that can be delivered in 30 minutes or less.

Through the expansion with operator DroneUp, the big-box retailer said it would be able to hit 4 million households in parts of Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. The is delivered by air will be fulfilled from 37 stores, with 34 of those run by DroneUp.

On Tuesday, it announced its plans for growth in a blog post. Walmart presently offers drones delivering from stores close to its headquarters in northwest Arkansas and North Carolina.

Walmart has been pushing how the small, uncrewed aircraft could change the game for retail, drive e-commerce development and turn its stores into a way to outmatch Amazon on speed. It struck deals with three operators and started pilot projects to produce groceries, household essentials, and at-home Covid-19 test kits for customers. The company declined to share the terms of the deals.

The new kind of delivery extends Walmart’s strategy to use its substantial physical footprint as a competitive edge. Almost 90% of Americans live within 10 miles of one of Walmart’s over 4,700 stores. Walmart has offered a growing list of fast online options through those stores, including curbside pickup; InHome, delivering directly to customers’ fridges; and Express Delivery, which drops items at doorsteps in two hours or less.

Customers living within the range of a Walmart drone-delivery site are able to order thousands of items between 8 a.m., and 8 p.m. Customers can order items counting up to 10 pounds. Each drone delivery comes with a $3.99 fee.

Every order is picked, packaged, and loaded at the store and flown remotely by a certified pilot to the yard or driveway of the customer. A cable on the drone lowers the package.

Orders should be placed on DroneUp’s website or through the websites of the two other operators. Walmart said it has plans to eventually add the order-placing capability to its website and app.

With the more extensive network of sites, Walmart can deliver more than 1 million packages by drone, David Guggina, senior vice president of innovation and automation for Walmart U.S., said.