By Jamie Barrie W al-Mart has taken its battle with Amazon to new heights, literally as the world’s largest retailer has applied for a U.S. patent for a floating warehouse. Yes we said, floating warehouse! al-Mart is looking at this technology so that it could make deliveries via drones from their warehouse in the sky to shoppers’ homes, creating a new “HIGHtech” delivery experience for its customers.
Source: United States Patent and Trademark Office
This “HIGHtech” blimp-style aircraft would fly between 500 feet and 1,000 feet off the ground and contain multiple launch- ing bays for drones which could be operated autonomously or by a remote human pilot. This technology could help retail- ers lower the costs of fulfilling online orders, particularly the so-called “last mile” to a customer’s house, which is usually handled by a local or national logistics company. The battle for the skies is the latest in a series of attempts by both Wal-Mart and Amazon to attract shoppers’ attention, loyalty and their all important dollars. It started when Wal-Mart began getting aggressive with online shoppers, and upping its e-commerce business through acquisitions and offers like free two-day shipping. Amazon answered by entering into bricks and mortar retailing and acquiring Whole Foods Market Inc for $13.7 billion USD. Wal-Mart stands a good chance of getting it patent approved as it is similar to a patent granted Amazon in April 2016, which was more or less a general description of the concept of airborne- delivery systems. Wal-Mart’s application goes into much more detail about the implementation of a gas-filled aircraft, according to Khaled Fekih-Romdhane, managing partner at patent- licensing firm Longhorn IP.
Well the sky is no longer the limit when it comes to going after your business when it comes to Wal-Mart and Amazon.
56
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER 2017
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker