GNC has partnered with autonomous delivery system Zipline to begin offering fully electric drone delivery in select markets in the U.S.
Beginning in Salt Lake City this summer, GNC will work with Zipline to offer residential product deliveries. Customers who want to use the Zipline service in Salt Lake County must first sign up with Zipline to confirm their delivery address is eligible. Once confirmed, Zipline delivery will then be available for those customers when they order from GNC.com.
GNC will start by using Zipline’s Platform 1 long-range delivery system, which features a fleet of small, fixed-wing, fully autonomous aircraft that operate quietly and release packages with parachutes to a customer’s yard. In 2024, GNC will begin using Zipline’s newly announced Platform 2 system, which is designed specifically for urban delivery.
After the initial test in Utah, the company will consider expanding the offering to other parts of the country.
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“Partnering with Zipline is propelling GNC to the cutting edge in the retail category,” said Alan Chester, Chief Supply Chain Officer at GNC in a statement. “Drone delivery is an innovative way to make our fulfillment, distribution and delivery processes more efficient, more effective and faster, ultimately benefiting our consumers.
“The addition of Zipline’s drone delivery within our omnichannel mix allows GNC to continue to optimize its transportation and distribution network for efficiencies,” Chester added. “It lightens the burden on our dual distribution centers by leveraging the store-fulfillment model, during which our expert coaches package the products and have Zipline deliver them. Plus, by fulfilling orders with products that are already nearby, we can get purchases to consumers faster.”
The announcement of the partnership with Zipline follows a number of other modernization initiatives at the company, including the launch of same-day delivery, buy online, pick up in store and ship from store, as well as the introduction of social selling on GNC.com via Salesfloor.
