On-Demand Alcohol Delivery Grows More Competitive, Despite Mutually Beneficial Relationship

As competition for on-demand delivery of beer, wine and spirits heats up, Uber Eats is hitting the ground running with Drizly. In its first major announcement since Uber completed the acquisition in October, Drizly said on Tuesday (Nov. 16) that, following a successful 190-store pilot program, it is partnering with 7-Eleven to deliver alcohol in 60 minutes or sooner from 1,200 of the convenience retailer’s stores.

“We are incredibly excited to partner with the nation’s leading convenience retailer to further our mission of being the go-to place for people to shop alcohol,” Cathy Lewenberg, chief operating officer at Drizly, said in a statement. “Collaborating with 7-Eleven expands the ease of our on-demand alcohol delivery to new markets and regions across North America.”

The on-demand alcoholic delivery space is growing quickly. Gopuff, which delivers alcohol in many of its markets, has been expanding across the United States. Earlier this month, Instacart announced that it was making same-day alcoholic beverage delivery available to three-quarters of American households in partnership with supermarket chain Meijer. Last month, New York City 15-minute grocery delivery service Jokr also added alcohol to its offerings. In September, DoorDash announced that it was adding alcoholic beverages to its marketplace in 20 states, as well as in Washington, D.C., Canada and Australia.

Read more: Jokr Now Serving Alcohol in NYC With Its 15-Minute Delivery Service

DoorDash Adds On-Demand Alcohol Service

Instacart Grows Its Presence in Alcohol On-Demand

“It’s not a surprise that DoorDash has followed us into alcohol,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told CNBC in September. “At Uber Eats, we have alcohol available in 23 countries. It’s up 245% on a year-on-year basis. The categories that we’re going after are ‘fast, frequent’. [As in] what do you want fast, and what do households order frequently?”

Related news: The Bring-It-to-Me Economy Comes for Alcoholic Beverages with DoorDash, Uber

PYMNTS research from the first quarter of 2021 found that only 14% of consumers had purchased alcohol online for same-day delivery, and a similar share (15%) had purchased alcohol online for delivery at a later date. Notably, the survey of more than 3,200 U.S. adults found the portion of consumers who had reduced their alcohol consumption (25%) was actually slightly greater than the portion who had increased their consumption (22%). That said, this figure does not account for how many drinks these consumers reduced or increased their consumption by, so it is possible that the overall number of drinks being consumed increased.

When consumers try out on-demand alcohol delivery options, they are generally won over. The survey found that 70% of consumers who had begun ordering more often from same-day alcohol delivery services such as Drizly reported that they intend to maintain some or all of their increased ordering.

Given the stickiness of these behaviors, the largest hurdle facing delivery services aiming to build out their alcohol delivery offerings is driving initial adoption. While these services are competitors, they have the opportunity to benefit from the growing availability of on-demand alcohol delivery across key players, given that, with each new addition, consumers grow more accustomed to ordering beer, wine and spirits for same-day delivery. Collectively, on-demand delivery services can gain share of alcoholic beverage sales from traditional liquor stores and from later-date eCommerce options.