Video source: YouTube, CNBC Television
Food delivery service DoorDash Inc (NYSE: DASH ) will now support delivery of beer, wine and spirits across 20 US states, the District of Columbia, Canada and Australia, a move the company said could enable it to reach 100 million+ customers.
In a press release Monday, DoorDash said customers of legal age can toggle to the alcohol tab of its app to order drinks from a selection of restaurants, grocery stores, convenience stores and local retailers in markets that permit alcohol delivery.
According to CNET, the option for alcohol delivery will be available in California, New York, Washington, Idaho, Arizona, Texas, Minnesota, Ohio, Illinois, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Virginia, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, Iowa, Oregon, Missouri and Nebraska.
The company estimates that the addition of direct alcohol delivery could drive a 30% surge in average order values of restaurants and grocers while boosting those of convenience stores by more than 50%.
DoorDash said it will verify customers are of legal drinking age by requiring them to upload a photo of their IDs to the app. For security purposes, identifying information on the uploaded ID will be blurred so that delivery drivers can only see the customer’s photo and birth date. [Editor's note: So now my delivery driver will know my birthdate? This sounds like a bad idea.]
"Over the past year, many cities where we operate evolved their legislation in order to permit the delivery of alcohol to residents' homes. Over that time, we worked tirelessly to build a trusted alcohol ordering and delivery experience for merchants, customers and Dashers," Caitlin Macnamara, director of alcohol strategy & operations at DoorDash, said in a statement.
"We're committed to providing new earning opportunities for merchants and Dashers, a safe, high quality experience for customers, and being a responsible leader in compliant alcohol delivery.”
Prior to Monday’s announcement, national and local merchants could offer alcohol through DoorDash’s white-label fulfillment service, DoorDash Drive, where gig workers deliver orders directly from merchants.
“Alcohol really presents a win, win, win for all of our audiences,” DoorDash chief executive officer Tony Xu said on CNBC’s “TechCheck.” Along with larger app orders, restaurants can sell more and gig workers can earn more, he added.
The move will also help DoorDash — which went public in December 2020 — further compete against Uber Technologies, which announced a deal earlier this year to acquire alcohol delivery service Drizly for $1.1 billion.
TechCrunch noted that the expansion follows DoorDash’s forecast of a potentially weaker third quarter, for which it cited the continued uncertainty over how post-pandemic consumer behavior may impact its business.
After growing in popularity during coronavirus-related lockdowns, delivery platforms like DoorDash, Uber Eats, GrubHub and Instacart have sought ways to expand their businesses, especially now that most safety restrictions across the US have been lifted.
Alcohol delivery has become one of the fastest-growing e-commerce categories over the past year-and-a-half, according to Nielsen data.
A 2020 study from the National Restaurant Association found that 56% of customers over age 21 would order alcoholic beverages if offered as part of a food delivery from a restaurant.
Concurrent with the alcohol delivery announcement, DoorDash disclosed partnerships with Responsibility.org and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) to promote alcohol responsibility and prevent underage drinking.
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Source: Equities News
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