Wine Spectator: Wine Delivery? There’s More Than One App For That

Before 2005, most Americans could legally have wine sent to their homes either from wineries located in their state or not at all. In 2015, at around 7:30 on a Tuesday night in Queens, one can order a bottle of Tenuta Villa Rosa Barolo 2010 for $27.99 with a few taps on a phone, and receive it at the front door exactly 20 minutes later. Wine delivery is on the cusp of becoming mainstream.

In just the past three years, businesses have figured out how to pair local retailers with the idea behind direct-to-consumer shipping, adding more personalized selection, flexibility and speed. While small startups were first, large companies in the wine distribution chain are taking notice.

In August, Amazon Prime began offering one-hour alcohol delivery in Seattle; in December, they expanded to New York. In November, national retail chain Total Wine & More announced a partnership with delivery service Instacart, rolling out in a Miami Beach location, with plans to expand. Chains ABC Fine Wine & Spirits in Florida, Goody Goody Liquors in Texas and Big Red Liquors in Indiana have all enlisted another service, Drizly, for their deliveries. Seeing a “shipping” option that doesn’t bypass wholesale and retail, the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America invested in Drizly in May, just one part of $17.8 million the company has raised.

Drizly’s app connects networks of brick-and-mortar retailers with consumers to facilitate alcohol deliveries, typically in under an hour. Other programs that synchronize with stores for quick delivery include Minibar, Thirstie, Saucey, Swill, Klink and Drync, most launched in the past two years. Minibar, in its first full year of operation, already operates in 19 markets and has $1.8 million in investment money.

Delivery apps’ relationships with retailers are still a work in progress. The licensing fees the apps charge are not a one-size-fits-all affair, as the costs and profits derived from delivery vary from state to state and market to market.

But retailers as well as consumers clearly see promise in delivery. John Jordan, Total Wine & More’s senior vice president of customer experience, said their South Beach trial has generated “significant customer demand. [Offering] convenience is a challenge for us because we’re a destination store.”Wine Spectator has a full report on the evolving wine delivery landscape.

Tagged : Amazon, Drizly, Instacart, Minibar, wine, Wine Spectator

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