How drones deliver food in China. VIDEO

In early September 2024, it became known that the operator of a chain of small stores near the house 7-Eleven entered into a partnership agreement with the Chinese platform Meituan. We are talking about the deployment of a delivery system for goods using unmanned aerial vehicles in Shenzhen in Guangdong province.

Drone delivery covers more than 3,000 types of 7-Eleven goods, including about 100 items of fresh food. After packing the order, the drone with the parcel gets to a special point of issue, made in the form of an automated kiosk. The drone sits on the roof of this kiosk, and the package is automatically unloaded inside. Then the client just needs to enter the code received on the smartphone to receive his order.

Daoinsights

Delivery drones are made according to the quadcopter scheme. Depending on how close the pick-up point is to the customer, the goods can be delivered in as little as 4 minutes after packing, it is claimed. The new delivery method reduces order waiting times by an average of 10 minutes. Thanks to the use of drones, the delivery process does not depend on road factors. In addition, it makes it easier to send goods to remote areas.

7-Eleven operates more than 1,700 stores in 13 cities in Guangdong. Thus, in the future, the coverage of the air delivery service will expand. In addition, as noted, services can be provided in closed and specialized areas - for example, on university campuses or at any enterprises. In the future, drones will use the parking lots of existing stores to take off. True, there are certain restrictions: drones operated within the service are not able to take on board parcels weighing more than 5 kg.^[1]

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