Australia: Coles now delivering booze at night

Source: news.com.au

July 15th

COLES has launched evening and Saturday booze delivery.

First Choice, part of Coles’ liquor business, will become the first national retailer to offer the service in the rapidly growing $344 million online liquor market.

New delivery options have been rolled out, with a revamped standard delivery service featuring a flat-rate fee of $6.95. Delivery times have been sped up from between three and seven business days to between two and five.

Same-day deliveries must be ordered by midday to be delivered by 5pm, while evening orders must be submitted before 2pm to be delivered between 5pm and 9pm on weekdays. Saturday deliveries must be ordered by midnight on Friday to be delivered between 9am and 5pm.

“When you’re ordering for a last-minute get-together, you don’t want to wait days for your order to arrive,” Liquor Direct general manager Grant Enders said.

“With this new service, our customers can have their orders delivered within a matter of hours using same day and evening delivery – or choose from the convenience of next day and Saturday deliveries.”

Mr Enders said the flat-rate delivery meant customers would pay the same prices “every time they order online, whether they are buying one bottle or restocking the cellar with a couple of dozen”.

“What makes this really exciting is that online customers can choose from the same extensive product range and great value prices as in-store at First Choice with delivery options to suit them,” he said.

Woolworths still dominates the online liquor market with a 54.4 per cent share, according to IBISWorld, while Wesfarmers holds just 19 per cent. Industry revenue has grown around 10.9 per cent over the past five years.

IBISWorld analyst Andrew Ledovskikh said Wesfarmers’ liquor businesses First Choice, Vintage Cellars and Liquorland had struggled to compete against Woolworths’ Dan Murphy’s and Cellarmasters, which it acquired in 2011.

“Over the coming years, IBISWorld anticipates that Wesfarmers will face an uphill battle to win market share from Woolworths, especially as its rival continues to expand its online and bricks-and-mortar presence,” he wrote.

While the sector is still forecast to grow at 7.8 per cent a year over the next five years to reach $500.5 million, declining alcohol consumption per capita is expected to put a damper on demand.

“Over the next five years, IBISWorld expects that the industry’s market share concentration will increase, as larger industry operators continue to threaten the livelihoods of smaller industry establishments,” Mr Ledovskikh wrote.

Last month, Coles revealed it was trialling its first-ever stand-alone online store – dubbed a “dark store” – as it tests the waters ahead of a potential disruption by overseas players such as Amazon Fresh.