In contrast to the myriad of companies that promote drones on Amazon, at Finest Purchase, or via different third-party retailers, Skydio has traditionally ditched the intermediary. To purchase Skydio drones, you’ll have to buy instantly via the Skydio web site — that’s, for many of Skydio’s drones.
For a couple of Skydio drones, you can truly purchase them via different channel companions in addition to Skydio’s personal web site. That provides you extra choices of the place to purchase, and opens you as much as extra salespeople to seek the advice of with and help choices.
To be clear, Skydio’s web site is at present the one vacation spot for normal shoppers to make a purchase order of consumer-grade. However for Enterprise verticals and legislation enforcement, Skydio has what are known as “channel companions.” They’re not your typical retailer like Finest Purchase the place you may stroll in, try and stroll out with a drone, however they supply extra choices past buying instantly from Skydio.
Shopping for Skydio drones via channel companions like Adorama
On-line digital camera retailer Adorama introduced in October 2022 that it had signed on as a channel companion with Skydio. Adorama is a channel companion for Skydio’s SLED and Enterprise verticals, however they aren’t promoting to shoppers.
For now, meaning you’ll be capable to buy the Skydio X2E and Skydio 2+ for Enterprise via Adorama’s web site. (Adorama additionally sells a variety of different enterprise drone merchandise from different corporations, corresponding to DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Superior Drone, Autel Robotics EVO II 8K Gimbal Drone Digital camera, and FLIR Vue TZ20 Excessive Decision Gimbalized Twin Thermal Digital camera.)
The Skydio X2E, optimized for enterprises, first responders, and civilian businesses, offers situational consciousness and inspection of infrastructure corresponding to buildings, bridges, energy vegetation, energy stations and railyards. And with Skydio’s autonomous navigation know-how, it’s comparatively straightforward and protected to fly at shut distances, capturing extra correct knowledge than conventional guide drones.
Skydio has a handful of different channel companions, too.
Although, even shopping for via Skydio channel companions isn’t so simple as including the drone you need to your digital cart and trying out. Usually, you’ll nonetheless need to contact the channel companion instantly. For instance, to purchase Skydio drones via Adorama, you’ll need to fill out an internet kind.
Upon buying, the drone is often shipped to you instantly from Skydio — normally inside 4-6 weeks.
Why purchase drones via a channel companion?
So what are the advantages of going via a intermediary like Skydio? Seems, there are loads.
On the buying stage, you’ll have entry to Adorama’s group of in-house specialists, which might suggest and curate an optimum drone {hardware} and software program bundle to your particular utility. Adorama additionally offers choices to purchase and promote used, which can assist money-conscious companies save. There are additionally financing and leasing choices accessible, which will be particularly enticing for small enterprise house owners.
With an Adorama-purchased Skydio drone in your hand, you’re additionally eligible to take part in Adorama’s insurance coverage, hands-on UAS coaching applications, drone restore providers, and on-demand help for any measurement drone program. Think about it an entire ecosystem of options that’s tailor-made to every buyer (or shopper) and their wants.
That mentioned, you too can nonetheless purchase Skydio’s enterprise drones instantly from Skydio, and nonetheless skip that intermediary. The Skydio 2+ Enterprise Equipment will be simply acquired with that easy digital cart checkout system on Skydio’s web site. For the Skydio X2, Skydio asks that you simply get in contact with them through an internet kind.
How shoppers should purchase Skydio drones
Should you’re a client seeking to purchase a Skydio drone, you’ll nonetheless undergo Skydio instantly. However that’s not a nasty factor. Whereas many store via huge websites like Amazon, these third-parties take a giant minimize of income. In 2021, Amazon generated roughly $103.4 billion in third-party vendor providers. Briefly, different corporations hand over a minimize to Amazon for any gross sales made.
When corporations like Skydio promote direct, that’s more cash of their pockets — not Amazon’s — and is ideally more cash they’ll reinvest in constructing higher drones sooner or later.
Skydio’s on-line store contains all variations of the Skydio 2+ kits. These embrace the:
There are additionally tons of equipment to select from together with the distinctive Beacon, spare batteries, ND filters and extra.
Upon buying via Skydio’s store, you even have the choice so as to add on Skydio Care, which is the corporate’s prolonged guarantee program that entails both a One 12 months or Two 12 months plan.
For what it’s price, looking for client merchandise instantly via Skydio is a straightforward, seamless expertise. The corporate presents free transport. Objects ship inside 3-5 enterprise days and order monitoring is, and also you’re granted a 30-day return coverage.
The corporate additionally presents financing choices, together with the choice to pay in month-to-month installments via ShopPay. Just a few of the fee choices will incur curiosity costs, although there’s an choice to make 4 biweekly, interest-free funds for purchases between $50 and $999.99.
The one drawback for worldwide markets: Skydio at present solely sells and ships to the U.S. (excluding US territories) and Canada.
What’s Skydio?
Past ditching the third-party sellers for client drones, Skydio has many different distinctive qualities that make it stand out within the drone business. The corporate was based in 2014 in Redwood Metropolis, Calif., bringing collectively AI, robotics and cameras to construct arguably one of the best digital camera drone that’s additionally made in America. Its most well-known product accessible now’s the Skydio 2 drone, which is a mainly crash-proof drone thank to its six, 200-degree shade cameras that may see the whole lot in each course so it theoretically by no means crashes.
Then there’s the Skydio X2, which take the standard Skydio 2 drone and turns it up — lots. It provides a thermal digital camera on prime of the present six 4k navigation cameras for 360-degree impediment avoidance. Then, there’s a twin sensor payload that features 12MP shade and 320×256 LWIR sensors.
Skydio is backed by prime buyers and strategic companions together with Andreesen Horowitz, Linse Capital, Next47, IVP, Playground, and NVIDIA.
