Zipline, a drone delivery startup, expanded its services to home delivery in Texas on Tuesday with the support of partner Walmart. Nearby residents of a Walmart Supercenter in Mesquite became eligible for Walmart deliveries from Zipline’s new P2 Zips model, a successor to the P1 model.
Zipline has been working with Walmart since 2021, and until now, it had only provided services to hospital systems and health clinics, delivering vaccines and blood to hard-to-reach, rural areas.
Currently, it’s estimated that the size of the global drone package delivery market will reach $8 billion by 2027, with companies such as Amazon already testing in Europe. Drones are now able to deliver packages to customers more quickly than cars and can hold impressive amounts of weight, which could see delivery services become more popular.
Startup Drone Service Zipline Works with Walmart on Texas Deliveries
On Tuesday, drone delivery service Zipline began to serve the customers of Walmart, its partner since 2021. At the center of its service were its new models, P2 Zips, that were able to locate and deliver packages to customers of a Walmart Supercenter in Mesquite, Texas within 30 minutes.
Residents within 2 miles of the supercenter became eligible for the delivery of more than 65,000 items, and at launch, the service was available for free. According to Zipline, the first order included a dozen eggs, a bag of Popcorners chips and flower bulbs for planting.
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Zipline’s CEO and co-founder, Keller Rinaudo Cliffton, has reported that these new P2 models have “dinner plate-level” accuracy, and prioritize a quiet and precise delivery that can even work in rain or 45mph gusts of wind. Cliffton likewise praised the success of the first operation in Mesquite, and confirmed that the company has “already become a part of people’s daily routines”.
What Is Zipline and Where Does It Operate?
Zipline was founded in 2014 and began its commercial operations in 2016. Since then, it has completed nearly 1.5 million deliveries and its drones have flown more than 100 million miles as of March 2025. It has established itself as the world’s largest drone delivery provider.
Before breaking into the home delivery market, Zipline focused on long-range medical deliveries to Sub-Saharan African countries. In Rwanda, it delivers 75% of the country’s blood supply outside the capital, Kigali, and has also delivered life-saving vaccines.
Zipline first partnered with Walmart in 2021 for a pilot program, and Tuesday’s launch marked a new target for its drones. Customers in the Mesquite area were urged to download the Zipline app or visit the company’s website to find out if their household is eligible for home delivery, with orders being placed between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. CDT on weekdays, and 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on weekends.
The Future of Zipline and Drone Delivery Services
Zipline is not the only company making waves in drone delivery services. As well as its partnership with Zipline, Walmart is also partnered with competitor Wing, which focuses on residential deliveries and has reportedly clocked in more than 450,00 deliveries since 2012. Other competitors include Amazon Prime Air and DroneUp, who Walmart cut ties with only a few months ago.
Alongside Walmart, Zipline has lent its services to food companies including Sweetgreen and Chipotle, as well as health clinics and hospital systems such as Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic. Since Tuesday’s launch, the company have also shared its plans to expand into the Dallas metropolitan area.
The landscape of logistics is no doubt likely to change with stricter tariffs now in place. However, the increasing accuracy and speed of these deliveries could see them become more convenient to busy people than the other services already in place.
