Deliveroo moves into alcohol delivery in UK

On-demand food delivery service Deliveroo has announced a number of retail and bar partnerships that will allow it to deliver alcohol to UK customers in 20 minutes.

Deliveroo has moved into the on-demand alcohol delivery service

Deliveroo has partnered with eight Majestic Wines across London and 20 BrewDog locations nationally, as well as a number of independent merchants such as Lea and Sandeman, Honest Brew, Mother Kellys and Vagabond Wines.

Customers can also order pre-bottled cocktails from establishments including White Lyan in London.

“Majestic Wines and BrewDog are perfect launch partners for us offering great pairings for meals ordered on Deliveroo and by working with independent merchants like Clapton Craft and Humble Grape we’re continuing to champion the UK’s independent businesses as well,” said Dan Warne, managing director of UK and IE at Deliveroo.

The new service will work “identically” to Deliveroo’s food delivery unit, with alcohol merchants provided with a tablet to process orders through the Deliveroo app.

Riders will the order from the venue and deliver to the consumer, taking an average of 20 minutes. Deliveroo began trialling standalone alcohol merchants on the platform in spring 2016 and noted “strong consumer demand”.

“Deliveroo offers us a really simple way to deliver amazing beers to our local neighbourhood,” said James Hickson, owner and managing director at We Brought Beer.

“Before using Deliveroo we were unable to offer a delivery service, like many independent outfits we didn’t have the resources or manpower to make it happen.”

Last year, Amazon launched a one-hour alcohol delivery service in the US, piloting the facility in Seattle through its Prime Now mobile application.

The on-demand alcohol delivery sector has grown rapidly in recent years, spurred by US-based companies such as Drizly and Thirstie.