Domino’s introduces drone deliveries

On Aug. 25, Domino’s Pizza Enterprises partnered with drone delivery company Flirtey to launch its first drone pizza delivery in Auckland, New Zealand. The international fast-food company plans to make drone delivery a regular option by the end of this year once Flirtey is given legal precedence to make regular commercial flights. Domino’s is one of many companies trying to get their hands on automated machines. Amazon and Google are among those trying to make widespread use of drone deliveries and Uber is hoping to even invent automated cars. Domino’s, however, might be the most technologically advanced.

Flirtey is also responsible for the convenience store 7-Eleven’s first drone delivery, which happened in July. It was the first time a drone legally delivered a package to a U.S resident.

In a past statement, the Domino’s group chief executive and managing director, Don Meij, had rejected the idea of drones and clearly stated that it did not make sense for a two-ton machine to fly a two-kilogram order. In a recent statement, however, Don Meij included the use of drones in the next stage of the company’s expansion into the artificial intelligence space.

Half of Domino’s business is online and their investments in technology have been one reason for its U.S. Stock reaching an all-time high recently. They have already developed innovations such as ordering online with Emojis, which gives the company “an edge over other pizza companies.”

If the drones are a success in New Zealand, Domino plans to introduce drone deliveries to six more markets- Australia, Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Japan and Germany.