In a recent study conducted among the people in urban areas, they found out that trust on drones are a bit low. For example, they talked about people trusting drones, but only for their smaller, cheaper purchases. Items like pizzas, basic groceries, or fluff you get in online stores are of no problem to consumers. For these cheap, replaceable items, people said they can rest easily having a drone personally deliver them. For more expensive items however, that is where consumers start having their doubts. Expensive phones, jewelry, and other high value items do not have the same trust levels for drones. For these purchases, people still prefer the reliability and history of traditional delivery personnel. Even if it takes longer to arrive, people still prefer them over drones.
For drones delivering goods, there have always been a couple of issues that needed addressing. Privacy concerns arise, since drones would go to your doorstep for deliveries. Not just your door per se, you have an entire neighborhood to consider. And a lot of them do not want a flying machine with a camera and a recorder snooping around. Another issue is the drone’s accuracy. Your items may end up on someone else’s porch. And since you already paid for it, it becomes your loss if you do not see it ever again. Same goes for the constant threat of drone hacking. Thieves can easily hack a drone’s path so they can take the items. These are things companies have to consider before going all in with drone technology.
Food Delivery for All:
But still, delivery drones have an immensely large potential market on their hands. The drone company Flytrex recently partnered with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) for this very endeavor. Their goal is to increase delivery time, while also ensuring accurate and secure deliveries. Of course, as with all other tests involving drones, this may take a while. They are still starting out on a small area, and hoping to eventually expand their program. The area in question is a small town in North Carolina named Holly Springs.
Unlike Domino’s or Amazon’s approach for delivery, Flytrex does not involve one particular shop or source. Flytrex provides the drones to the local shops (restaurants, groceries, etc) while removing traditional deliveries entirely. Yes, for the foreseeable future while the tests are taking place, drones will handle every delivery. This is through the individual stores’ mobile apps, and once clients hit ‘order’, the drones will do the rest. Flytrex hopes that this will eventually lead to a country-wide drone system, but of course, it is still too early to get your hopes up.
