7-Eleven’s first drone delivery a success

Convenience store chain 7-Eleven and drone startup Flirtey have marked a milestone in global commerce after completing the first-ever fully autonomous drone delivery to a customer’s residence.

Products included Slurpee® drinks, a chicken sandwich, donuts, hot coffee, and 7-Select® candy were flown using precision GPS from a Reno, Nevada 7-Eleven store to a local customer’s house. Once at the family’s backyard, the Flirtey drone hovered in place and gently lowered each package, reported a company release.

“It’s amazing that a flying robot just delivered us food and drinks in a matter of minutes,” said Reno resident Michael, who praised the ‘priceless’ convenience of this type of delivery for working parents like him.

The historical delivery was approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and was conducted in celebration of the convenience store chain’s 89th birthday.

“This delivery required special flight planning, risk analysis, and detailed flight procedures ensuring residential safety and privacy were equally integrated,” said Chris Walach, Director of Operations for Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS).

Flirtey and 7-Eleven plan to pursue more drone delivery tests and continue to work closely together.

“The deliveries also mark Flirtey’s largest commercial relationship to date and bring the drone delivery startup even closer to its vision of reinventing the delivery process for humanitarian, online retail and food delivery industries,” stated the press release.