Delivery or Shipping drones are unmanned aerial vehicles used for transportation of small goods such as food, beverages, medicines, and automotive equipment. Delivery drones market is in development phase and it is projected to offer major growth potential over the forecast period, owing to time saving characteristics and reduced efforts from human workforce.

Increasing labor costs in emerging economies are expected to fuel growth of delivery/shipping drones market

Daily gross of the manual workforce required for transport and shipping of goods has witnessed considerable surge over the last few years. For instance, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, average private industry worker salary registered an increase 2.6% over the twelve-month period. Increasing wages are challenging for business development, which is creating demand for automated products. Delivery drones have are gaining significant traction, owing to ease of operation and reduced time of delivery, which is expected boost growth of the market over the forecast period.

Moreover, predominant requirement of transportation and logistics in B2C business segments, such as ecommerce and food & beverages are anticipated to be the primary users of this technology. According to Coherent Market Insights, 15% of the total shipping workforce in these business sectors is projected to be replaced by delivery drones by 2025.

Delivery Shipping Drones Market Taxonomy

On the basis of drone types, the global delivery shipping drones market is segmented into:

Fixed wing drones

Rotary blade drones

Hybrid drones

On the basis of end users, the global delivery shipping drones market is segmented into:

Food & beverages

Healthcare

Retails & Logistics

Others (Defense, Disaster management, Automotive)

Integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into drones is expected to accelerate growth of delivery/shipping drones market

Integration of Artificial Intelligence into drones can enhance the performance of delivery drones. Moreover, time spent in road navigation, traffic congestions and other forms of shipping means can be considerably reduced by air transport. However, high cost associated with device is may restrain growth of the market. Market players from shipping industry are involved in evaluating the probability of the technology for its utilization and related benefits. For instance, in September 2015, DHL introduced parcelcopter to deliver medications and urgently needed commodities to remote island, Juist. Moreover, many other companies that include Dominos, FedEx, United Parcel Services (UPS), Amazon and AMP holdings have planned strategies for the adoption of delivery drones in near future.

Regulatory restrictions on use of commercial drones are expected to hamper growth of the market over the forecast period.

Stringent regulations that restrict the usage of UAVs under certain norms and conditions, such as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in U.S., are expected to hinder the industry growth over the forecast period. It restricts the users through allowing the usage of UAVs only within the line of sight and mandating the usability on only one drone at a time by a user. However, the U.S. government has showcased interests in the development of the technology by allowing Amazon and NASA to perform pilot projects

Integrated cameras to enhance the surrounding awareness has resulted into privacy concerns of the surrounding residents. Furthermore, liability issues in case of a crash or damage of any sort is expected to pose a major challenge for growth of this market. This is expected to restrain growth of delivery drones market over the forecast period.

Major players operating in shipping drones market include Airware, DJI, Skycatch, 3D robotics, senseFly, AeroVironmenment, and Elbit Systems.