Amazon developing smart glasses to help drivers shorten delivery times – report

In an effort to shave delivery times and help navigate drivers through obstacles, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is developing smart glasses to direct its drivers through the “last 100 yards,” according to sources cited by Reuters.

The glasses would guide delivery drivers with turn-by-turn navigation through an embedded screen and free drivers from having to use hand-held navigation. The effort to speed up delivery times – even by just seconds – underscores Amazon’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) aim to outperform Walmart (WMT) as the retail giant takes its own initiatives to compete directly with Amazon’s same-day delivery option.

Amazon currently delivers over 66K packages per hour. Last year, it increased the number of same-day or next-day packages to Prime members by 65% to 7B compared to 4.4B by Walmart. Of those 4.4B, 20% were delivered in under three hours.

Amazon’s (AMZN) lead in package delivery speed and service was recently accelerated further after the company’s MK30 delivery drone was cleared to begin operations by the Federal Aviation Administration. The drone will initially operate from Amazon’s Same-Day Delivery site in Tolleson, Arizona.

Amazon (AMZN) has not yet responded to Seeking Alpha’s request for comment.