Coles joins Wing drone delivery trials in Canberra

Coles is set to join the Canberra trials of Alphabet-owned Wing delivery drones, offering a selection of 250 products for on-demand delivery.

The grocery retailer said it would offer a range of “bread, fresh produce, snacks, convenience meals, health care items, kitchen essentials and even toilet paper”, with no minimum spend or delivery fee.

Orders would “typically take about 10 minutes” to deliver, and are available to residents in parts of Crace, Palmerston, Franklin, Harrison, Mitchell, Giralang and Kaleen.

Coles chief executive of ecommerce Ben Hassing said drone delivery was “the next evolution in delivery technology” and could ultimately reduce delivery truck rolls in the future.

“We are passionate about finding innovative ways to help our customers to shop with us and we aim to deliver anytime, anywhere, anyhow shopping,” Hassing said in a statement.

“By partnering with Wing, we’re able to offer our online customers another convenient option to purchase the Coles items they know and love and get them delivered straight to their door.”

Wing Australia’s general manager Simon Rossi said on-demand drone delivery volumes had “significantly increased” in the past year.”

“Wing made more than 100,000 deliveries in Australia in 2021, and strong demand for drone delivery has continued in 2022,” he said.

“Wing has already made more than 30,000 deliveries in Australia this year.” 

Customers can place an order for groceries - or other products - via the Wing app.