Australians Ready for Drone Delivery to Take Off

LONDON, July 25, 2018 :Researchers at Worldpay are investigating the use of drone technology to help combat the growing issue of parcel fraud, it was announced today. The payments provider has unveiled a prototype design that could help pave the way for drone delivery around the world.

Worldpay’s Drone Pay proof-of-concept uses EMV contactless* payment card technology to verify the identity of the recipient, ensuring a parcel is delivered to the right person at the right address. This technology is embedded into a drone landing pad, which is issued to the customer in the form of a doormat. When the drone lands to drop off the package, the card details stored within the doormat are read automatically. If the information matches that of the correct recipient, the parcel is released.

The growing popularity of online shopping has helped move the value of the Australian parcel market to $9 billion,¹ and this number is set to explode following the launch of Amazon Prime last month. However, a natural consequence of this growth has been the rise in delivery complaints, which topped 1.1 million last year.²

Worldpay’s prototype demonstrates how drone technology could help retailers provide a better last-mile experience by offering a more reliable proof of delivery. Recent research by the payments company suggests that Australian consumers are ready for drone delivery to become a reality, as public perception towards the concept becomes increasingly positive. A survey of 2000 consumers found that Australia has reached a tipping point for drone delivery adoption, with 42% ready to embrace delivery by drones, compared to 30% hanging back³.

For consumers, drone delivery could offer far greater convenience when shopping online. Shoppers can choose to have a package delivered to a location convenient to them, and also have the opportunity to check the item before accepting it. For merchants, Worldpay’s Drone Pay proof of concept could help reduce delivery complaints, which cost companies unnecessary time, money and lost custom every day.

Phil Pomford, General Manager for Asia Pacific, Global Enterprise eCommerce at Worldpay Inc. said: “Drones are already proving invaluable to certain industries, from search and rescue, to environmental research, so there is undoubtedly a huge potential market for delivery too. Our data suggests that consumers are becoming increasingly open to the notion of drone delivery. Nevertheless, there are still several logistical hurdles that need to be addressed before it becomes commonplace. The weight of the package and flying distance both remain potential barriers to adoption, in addition to ensuring that parcels are delivered to the correct customer.

This is where payment technology can help. By verifying the identity of the recipient before releasing the parcel, our proof of concept is an example of how technology can address the common problems that many Australians experience with parcel delivery. The volume of packages in transit is projected to reach 1 billion by 2021⁴, as online increasingly becomes the channel of choice for Australian shoppers. Merchants should therefore explore new ways of innovating their supply chain capabilities, to keep pace with demand.”

You can watch a demo of the proof of concept here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR9s_lp9l30&feature=youtu.be

* EMV stands for Europay, MasterCard and Visa, and is a global standard for credit and debit cards that uses computer chips to authenticate (and secure) chip-card transactions.

About the data
The research was compiled in partnership with Opinium and interviewed over 20,102 consumers about their opinion on the Internet of Things and drones. Research was conducted in 10 markets – Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Singapore, the UK and USA. In Australia, the study interviewed 2,006 consumers.

About Drone Pay

Drone Pay is a prototype technology developed by Worldpay’s innovation team to understand how payment technology can be used to create more secure delivery and fulfilment for online retailers, whilst also adding an additional layer of buy authentication.The proof of concept uses EMV contactless payment card technology to authenticate the identity of the recipient. The technology is drone agnostic, and simply clips onto the drone model. The original drone remains unaltered.

About Worldpay

Worldpay, Inc. (NYSE: WP; LSE: WPY) is a leading payments technology company with unique capability to power global integrated omni-commerce. With industry-leading scale and an unmatched integrated technology platform, Worldpay offers clients a comprehensive suite of products and services globally, delivered through a single provider.

Worldpay processes over 40 billion transactions annually through more than 300 payment types across 146 countries and 126 currencies. The company’s growth strategy includes expanding into high-growth markets, verticals and customer segments, including global eCommerce, Integrated Payments and B2B.

Worldpay, Inc. was formed in 2018 through the combination of the No. 1 merchant acquirers in the U.S. and the U.K. Worldpay, Inc. trades on the New York Stock Exchange as “WP” and the London Stock Exchange as “WPY.” Visit us at https://www.worldpay.com/global/.

For more information, please contact:
Emily Lahey : emily.lahey@worldpay.com – +44 203 664-5663
Katie McCracken : worldpayecommteam@golin.com - +44 207 067 0128

¹https://internetretailing.com.au/e-commerce-drives-parcel-boom/
²Citizens Advice: Parcel delivery - delivery services in the online shopping market
³Research of 2,006 consumers conducted by Opinium in June 2017
⁴https://internetretailing.com.au/e-commerce-drives-parcel-boom/