Look, up in the sky: it's a bird, it's a plane...it's your nutritional supplements from GNC.
Strip District-based nutritional supplements retailer GNC Holdings announced today that it has started a new partnership with Zipline, described in an announcement as "the world's largest autonomous delivery system," to start offering an electric drone delivery option.
The announcement indicates the plan will kick off in select markets, starting in Salt Lake City this summer. GNC customers in Salt Lake County, Utah can sign up for the service online to confirm if their delivery address is eligible and if so, can order from GNC's website with drone delivery.
According to GNC's announcement, the new service comes after the company has worked to offer such other new omnichannel sales strategies as same day delivery and buy online, pick up in store and ship from store.
"Drone delivery is an innovative way to make our fulfillment, distribution and delivery processes more efficient, more effective, and faster, ultimately benefiting our consumers," said Alan Chester, GNC's chief supply chain officer, in a statement. He referred to the new delivery option as an initial test, the results of which could lead to broader expansion.
He further explained how it will help GNC better operate, knowing how the new approach is expected to "to optimize its transportation and distribution network for efficiencies" as well as "lighten the burden on our dual distribution centers by leveraging the store-fulfillment model" by fulfilling orders for customer who live near the stores.
Zipline International Inc. is based in San Francisco and has been ramping up its various service lines, offering autonomous drone service to include blood and medical supplies, along with touting the prospects for serving the retail and food service industry.
A May report in Bay Area Inno, a sibling publication of the Pittsburgh Business Times, indicates that Zipline raised $330 million from various venture funding sources that helped to raise its valuation to $4.2 billion.
GNC, according to its announcement, will start with a long-range delivery system by Zipline featuring "a fleet of small, fixed-wing, fully autonomous aircraft that operate quietly and release packages with parachutes to a customer's yard." That could segue into a 2024 program designed for urban delivery. According to the announcement, Zipline deliveries use 97% less energy that traditional delivery based on trucks and vans.
Irene Scher, senior vice president of U.S. Go-To-Market at Zipline, said to expect the new service will prove to be "faster, more convenient and better for the environment than traditional automotive delivery."
