Before launching their drone delivery service, Wing needed permission from the airline company CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority) after a thorough analysis. This included: drone maintenance, pilot training and a traffic management system. Following this, Wing received the go-ahead needed from the relevant authorities.

There are strict requirements attached to flying with drones. Flying is not allowed in the evening or at night. On top of that, drones are not allowed to cross busy roads. They must remain at a suitable distance from pedestrians as well.

100 households drone delivery

Wing is starting in a suburb of Canberra, where only 100 households will be connected to the delivery service in the beginning. As Wing had already started testing the drone delivery, they are able to launch the service immediately. The company plans on extending to other areas over time, and the delivery service is expected to be good for an annual turnover of 30-40 million Australian dollars.

However, the company receives a lot of criticism and resistance in Australia. As local residents fear noise, lack of legal regulations and invasion of privacy, they filed a six-month lawsuit against Wing. To soothe the local community, the company plans to develop a new drone that makes less noise.

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eBay and the 100-year old Coles Supermarket chain in Australia extend their partnership to launch the first full-blown online grocery business, reports Tamebay. The marketplace platform hopes to attract more online shoppers from Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney to purchase on eBay.

eBay users from Australia can now shop (non-)perishable everyday products such as fresh food, personal care or household items. Free delivery is provided for shoppers who spend more than $49 and are subscribed to the ‘eBay Plus’ membership programme. They also receive double the amount of flybuys points on every order.

Next to eBay’s range of unique and new items from all other categories, the partnership provides access to Coles’ products. Coles’ is now following 40,000 other Australian retailers that use eBay, such as Target, The Good Guys and Myer.

Online grocery shopping

Only 3% of Australian shoppers currently shop for their groceries online. Coles and eBay are therefore breaking ground in the business for online groceries in Australia. They might be just in time before Amazon starts gaining domination in this market. Coles will provide an unattended delivery option, to enable their customers to receive orders while they are away from home. Other delivery options are released throughout the upcoming year. Alister Jorden, Chief Executive of Cole’s says: “We always look for ways to make life easier for our customers. “By partnering with eBay, we provide our customers with another convenient way to access our products and have them delivered straight to their door.”

As Coles launched their online shop two weeks ago, their feedback reveals that shoppers do not accept broken promises. Negative feedback can be received for every single product that is ordered. The feedback is therefore not the same as for other sellers and could be seen as unfair, as one buyer could leave 18 negative reactions for a single transaction.

It is no surprise that eBay chooses to launch the online grocery market in Australia. Amazon landed in Australia about a year ago, and in order to compete, it needs to step up its game instead of being a general marketplace.

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The service becomes available this week. It means (Australian) companies can store products at the Amazon warehouse in Dandenong South, south-east of Melbourne, and have their orders picked, packed and shipped by Amazon.

According to Amit Mahto, Head of Amazon Australia FbA, "Amazon focuses on helping Australian businesses of all sizes succeed by inventing on their behalf and making our technology available to them. FbA is a fantastic example of this. Customers shopping on amazon.com.au will be able to access an ever growing and more unique range of products accompanied by the convenience of fast delivery and Amazon's world-class customer service."

Amazon will charge third-party sellers fees starting from $1.76 to fulfill a small envelope order and up to $25.48 for a much bigger order weighing up to 30 kgs. It will cost $7.76 to pick, pack and despatch an order weighing up to three kilos. For comparison, Australia Post would cost $8.50 to send a parcel that size anywhere in Australia.

Another service to come to Amazon Australia is Prime, an annual membership with free two-day shipping and other benefits. This is expected mid-2018. It costs $US99 a year in the US, where it has an estimated 90 million subscribers, and it is key to Amazon’s strategy for dominance in retailing.

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