Theme: Digitalisation
Industry Adoption: ⚫ ⚫ ⚪ ⚪ Early Adopters
Impact: ⚫ ⚫ ⚪ Significant

Through employing autonomous drones for last-mile logistics, drone delivery can enhance efficiency and reduce costs. With the capability to carry up to 200 kilograms over several kilometres, drones address critical delivery needs. These include fast, direct dispatches to flexible destinations and remote or offshore locations. Drones can also deliver emergency supplies, such as urgently needed spare parts and medicine.

The global drone delivery market is set for significant growth, projected to reach 33.8 billion USD by 2033, with an annual growth rate exceeding 40%. Early adopters are leveraging drones to provide ad hoc solutions in challenging terrains. Drones are also being used for urban doorstep deliveries and transporting to congested areas. Despite these advancements, few startups (~15) are driving innovation. Overall, over 1,000 patents have been filed since 2019, including 150 groundbreaking innovations. Scientific research remains robust with around 1,500 publications. C-Suite engagement has seen a slight decrease, with mentions reducing from over 10 in 2022 to 5 by 2024. Drone delivery is still in its early adopter stage, reflecting notable interest. Engagement remains modest until more business-relevant use-cases gain momentum.

^{Average values of the top ten trends: Startups: 57; Patents 9,327 (thereof 316 groundbreaking); Science Publications: 6,141; C-Suite Mentions 1,376; More C-Suite mentions typically signal that trends are in the early or early adopter stage, while fewer indicate movement towards full integration or the industry standard.} 

What are the opportunities?

Drone delivery offers enhanced efficiency, enabling quick, flexible logistics for hard-to-reach areas or traffic-heavy zones. It revolutionises last-mile deliveries, increasing accessibility and convenience for consumers.

What are the challenges?

The trend faces high operational costs, regulatory hurdles, and scalability issues. Current cost structures and restrictions limit urban deployment, while startups encounter financial sustainability challenges, hampering large-scale adoption.

Sources:

• Statista (2024).
• Survey among 500+ global logistics decision makers across various industries, conducted by Statista for Maersk (Q4 2024).
• In-depth interviews with global industry experts, academia, and futurists.
• Unstructured web sources with more than 10,000 search term permutations using AI.
• Curated data from startup databases, patent databases, and analysis tools, as well as Semantic Scholar.