Tesco takes to the skies with Ireland’s first drone grocery deliveries
Customers in Oranmore, Co. Galway will be able to track their orders in real-time and have their purchases within 30 minutes to one hour of ordering
Print27 October 2020
Tesco is today launching its first grocery home shopping drone delivery trials, in partnership with Manna, the world’s first aviation-grade business-to-business drone delivery platform. The trial, which will run for several months initially, will take place around Tesco’s Oranmore store in county Galway.
The project is being led by Tesco’s group innovation team, a newly established team looking at working with partners on disruptive innovation in the retail space.
Tesco is working with Manna to explore how drones can be part of the solution to deliver on-demand small baskets to customers. Manna is operating as part of a trial and flight testing of a customer delivery drone service in the suburban community of Oranmore.
Meeting demand
Catherine Swift, store manager of Tesco Oranmore said she was delighted to be involved in the trial. “We’re continually looking for new ways to serve our customers a little better and this trial is an opportunity to look at meeting demand for small basket shops and quick delivery,” Swift said. “We’re looking forward to seeing how our customers in the Oranmore area respond to the service.”
Denis Houston, operations director for Manna, said working with an innovative partner like Tesco on the trial is “incredible”.
“It’s fantastic to see how innovation and new technologies like this helps all the community, both customers and local retailers,” Houston said.
How it works
Customers can order a delivery from Tesco by drone through a dedicated website, where an initial range of up to 700 products will be available. The order is picked by a Tesco colleague in-store and delivery is managed by a Manna drone supervisor. Customers can track their order in real-time and have their purchases within 30 minutes to one hour of ordering, Manna has a three minute delivery promise from once the items are loaded into the drone and users will be alerted when it is one minute away.
Orders will be fulfilled by drones between 9:30am – 5pm Tuesday – Sunday. Customers can choose from a selection of essential products from the Tesco range, with age-restricted products and bulkier products not available.
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