Tesco is planning to try out using flying robots to deliver small purchases to people's homes in less than five minutes.
The supermarket giant has teamed up with drone delivery company Manna to test the plan - with a six-month trial starting in October.
Customers of Tesco's Oranmore store in Galway, Ireland, will be the first to experience the service - thanks to Manna's existing licence in the area.
The idea is to use drones to drop off “small basket” orders - which Tesco reckons will soon be worth £10billion across the UK.
Manna said its drones fly 80 metres off the ground and at more than 50mph – and can deliver items within a 1.2 mile (2km) radius in less than 3 minutes.
Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis said Manna had "already proven" it could do the job.
"The question is how do we take that capability and apply it to Tesco, and that’s the detail that’s been worked on now before we get to the trial," he said.
Tesco innovation director Claire Lorains added: “We are interested to see how drones could be part of the solution to deliver to our customers on-demand small baskets.
"If our trial with Manna is successful, we believe there is an opportunity to reach many customers through our stores, extending via our drone service.”
To expand the s drone delivery service further will need approval from the Irish Aviation Authority.
The move from Tesco is the latest innovation as the country's grocers look to find new ways to get food to more people's doors faster.
Accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, we have seen a string of retailers from Co-Op to M&S and even Aldi team up with delivery firms Uber Eats and Deliveroo to launch 30-minute services.
Morrisons also introduced the pre-packed delivery boxes - allowing them to by-pass in-store grocery pickers and ship more food faster - as well as extending its partnership with Amazon and its same-day Prime Now service.
Amazon itself is also trialling both drone deliveries and automated ground-based Scout robots to get goods to people's door - something Morrisons will be able to take full advantage of if it works out.
