Wing began delivering Walmart orders by drone in the Memphis area on Tuesday, November 10, from three Supercenters: Bartlett and Cordova in Tennessee, and West Memphis across the river in Arkansas. It is Wing’s first market in Tennessee and its sixth U.S. metro with Walmart. Memphis is also the first of the seven cities the two companies named in June to start deliveries.
Customers order through the Walmart app, Walmart.com or Wing’s own app, and Wing says the box can arrive in as little as 30 minutes. Each flight carries up to 2.75 pounds (1.25 kilograms), and local station WMC Action News 5 puts the fee at $19.99 per order. The City of West Memphis says Walmart+ members pay nothing for a limited time.
Amazon parked an MK30 delivery drone inside the Renasant Convention Center in June and gave Memphis no launch date. Its Prime Air site still lists the city under “Coming soon.”
Memphis Is the First of Wing’s Seven June Cities to Start Deliveries
Wing and Walmart named Memphis in June alongside New Orleans, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, Salt Lake City and the San Francisco Bay Area. Five months later Memphis is the only one of the seven where Walmart deliveries have started, which makes six metros operating and 13 still waiting.
Wing’s announcement names the stores as Supercenter #950 at 8400 U.S. Highway 64 in Bartlett, #2322 at 577 N. Germantown Parkway in Cordova and #70 at 798 W. Service Road in West Memphis. It says tens of thousands of homes around them can order now. Heather Rivera, Wing’s chief business officer, said the company wants to be “a helpful, good neighbor” to the metro.
West Memphis held its party early. The city’s mayor cut a ribbon with Walmart and Wing on Monday, November 2, and WREG checked that afternoon and found the service was not yet available. DroneXL reported three days later that nothing was flying and that Wing’s map still showed Memphis as coming soon. Wing announced service at all three stores eight days after the ribbon. The Raleigh LaGrange Road store that Walmart put before Memphis and Shelby County planners in August is not on the launch list.
The aircraft cruise at 150 to 200 feet (46 to 61 meters) and up to 60 mph (97 km/h), then hover at about 23 feet (7 meters) and lower the box on a tether. Memphis opened four days after Wing said it will spend up to $125 million on a Fort Worth plant sized for tens of thousands of aircraft a year. The FAA’s Part 108 rule for routine BVLOS flight has been in White House review since July 10, which is 125 days as of Thursday.
A Wing Drone Order Costs $19.99 Without Walmart+ and Carries 2.75 Pounds
WMC Action News 5 reported on launch day that drone delivery costs $19.99 per order. The City of West Memphis said standard fees apply and Walmart+ members get free drone delivery on eligible orders for a limited time. Wing’s own post gives no price.
Wing says the 2.75-pound limit will rise to five pounds (2.3 kilograms) “soon” and gives no date. It stated the same plan at the Orlando launch in July, when the limit was 2.5 pounds, and it has said since January that its larger aircraft is already flying commercially. A half gallon of milk weighs more than four pounds.
Amazon Quoted Memphis $4.99 in June and Still Lists It as Coming Soon
Amazon’s June 16 event at the Renasant Convention Center promised Memphis five-pound deliveries within 7.5 miles (12.1 kilometers) of its own facility for $4.99 with an Amazon Prime membership and $9.99 without. As of November 12 the Prime Air site lists Memphis, TN under “Coming soon,” with no start date.
DroneXL found no start date in Memphis news coverage either. Amazon cut its Prime Air fees in August to $2.99 for Prime members, free on orders of $50 or more, and $4.99 for everyone else, as DroneXL reported with its plan to reach nearly 500 U.S. cities and towns by the end of 2026. That deadline is seven weeks away.
Walmart and Wing had named Memphis the week before Amazon’s event, and DroneXL wrote then that the two operators were on a collision course in the city.
DroneXL’s Take
I wrote in June that Memphis would be the place where Wing and Amazon got tested in front of the same customers, and Wing has now turned up first. It did that the quick way, by flying from three Walmart stores that already had the groceries inside. Amazon flies from its own facility, and five months after its convention-center show there is still nothing a Memphis resident can order. That is the store-map advantage I described in July.
Being first does not make Wing the better deal. Without a membership, $19.99 for 2.75 pounds is a price people pay once for the novelty. Amazon now charges non-members $4.99 for five pounds in the markets where it flies. If you live in Bartlett, Cordova or West Memphis, order while Walmart+ covers the fee and look at what the checkout page charges after the offer ends. I think Wing keeps Memphis only if that number comes down before Amazon’s drones arrive.
Sources: Wing, Forbes, WMC Action News 5, WREG, Amazon Prime Air
DroneXL uses automated tools to support research and source retrieval. All reporting and editorial perspectives are by Haye Kesteloo. Read our editorial standards.
