Lowe’s has begun testing drone delivery in North Carolina, becoming what it describes as the first home improvement retailer to offer the service to shoppers.
Running out of the company’s store in Matthews, the trial allows customers to receive select home improvement products in as little as 20 minutes.
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It draws on delivery infrastructure already operated in the Charlotte area by Alphabet subsidiary Wing and DoorDash.
The scheme expands Lowe’s roster of same-day fulfilment options, which already includes buy-online pickup-in-store, kerbside collection and same-day delivery.
A limited range of products qualifies for drone delivery under the pilot.
These span hand tools and paint supplies alongside everyday essentials such as soap, tape, all-purpose cleaner and batteries.
The initiative sits alongside other technology efforts at the retailer, including Mylow, an AI assistant aimed at customers, and Mylow Companion, a separate AI tool built for store staff.
To use the service, customers check whether drone delivery is available by opening the DoorDash app; the option appears automatically if their delivery address falls within range of the Matthews store.
Orders are then placed through a dedicated section of the app called “Lowe’s by Drone”.
Wing’s drones can currently carry payloads of roughly 2.5lb (1.13kg) per flight.
Lowe’s employs around 300,000 people and runs more than 1,750 home improvement stores, alongside 540 branches and 120 distribution centres.
Lowe’s chief information and AI officer Seemantini Godbole said: “By piloting drone delivery, we are addressing a real project pain point with an innovative solution that is integrated into the retail journey, giving our hometown customers next-generation fulfilment right when they need it.”
On the financial side, the company posted net sales of $25.95bn for the second quarter ended 31 July 2026, compared with $23.95bn in the same period a year earlier.
Following those results, Lowe’s tightened its full-year 2026 guidance, shifting several figures that had previously been given as ranges into single-point forecasts, pointing to weaker DIY demand as a factor.
