Coronavirus and the rise of the machines.. or the drone?

The Drone-Age

We at Beringer Tame like to think we're ahead of the digital curve. It was 2017 when a client of ours was talking to us about the use of drones as a delivery mechanism and it got us thinking. We asked ourselves at the time why we should wait for brands like Amazon to blaze the trail and decided to see if we could work within the existing regulations (at that time) to make a drone delivery of our own (see video at end).

Since then a lot has happened and most recently Retail Info Systems published an article on this very topic. It is very timely considering the need for global quarantines and lockdowns in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19. 'Contact-less' drone delivery seems a plausible solution for the future of ecommerce delivery.

"Given that drones are controlled remotely, they have the added advantage of reducing exposure to viruses. As people spend more time at home and expect quick deliveries, drones can be used as a premium service to deliver online shopping straight to their doors without risk of human-to-human contact. In order to remain competitive in a rapidly evolving market, businesses could therefore meet consumer needs by investing in drone technology." (Retail Info Systems)

And as ABS-CBN News recently reported, Amazon now has "a freshly-issued Federal Aviation Administration certificate has cleared the launch pad for drone deliveries in the US." Amazon has been developing drones as part of it's investment in logistics & delivery and has announced that it will be trialling 1 hour drone deliveries in 2021.

In September 2020, Tesco said it would "trial grocery home deliveries with drones as it experiments with different ways to reach more customers" from October 2020. Based at Tesco's Oranmore store, County Galway, the drones will deliver "small baskets" of goods to the local area.

The plus side of drone delivery for ecommerce

reduction in delivery time
reduction in cost
reduction in contamination

Some examples of drone activity

A drone company that had to abandon its fast-food delivery tests has partnered with Ireland's health authority to deliver prescriptions instead.

Royal Mail launches landmark drone delivery trial
Drone start-up Manna becomes first to apply for EU operator’s licence
Manna Aero is working with the Health Service Executive to deliver medicines in Ireland
Tesco Ireland is trialling small basket deliveries in Ireland
JD.com in China has been on the case for some time
The U.K. government has recently confirmed funding for drones trial
Brugh Coffee in Virginia is already delivering its coffee by drone
Zipline is using drones to deliver essential medical supplies

So, is now the time for drones to have their glory day? The drone-age...

It is food for thought indeed - there are many vital considerations before we allow our skies to fill with drones instead of planes, but it's an interesting persepctive on what could happen in the future.... Given the pace of digital transformation right now, why not?

Here's our slightly gimmicky exercise from 2017 going someway to demonstrate that we really are prepared to go the extra mile with you! Hope you enjoy the (somewhat old) video.