Drizly’s Alcohol Selection Just Got a Whole Lot Bigger

Now Drizly isn’t Uber for booze, it’s Amazon for booze

Source: Bostinno

Dylan Martin

5/4/16

Drizly can be great for fast delivery of beer, wine and liquor, but in the past, the selection was limited to what the startup’s local retail partner had. That means selection could come up short if, for instance, they didn’t have your new favorite IPA.

But that’s all changing now: the Boston startup announced a new service on Wednesday called Connect that lets you order from a selection of tens of thousands of products that may not be available at your local Drizly retail partner. The only catch is that these kinds of special orders are only available for next day delivery.

The new service is currently available in greater Boston and Cambridge, as well as Washington, D.C., and it’s expected to expand to five other markets over the next three months.

We think we can be a place you can come to find items where you can’t find anywhere else.

Nick Rellas, Drizly’s CEO and co-founder, told BostInno the startup decided to move into this area because consumers haven’t had an online platform yet that allows them to capitalize on the growing selection of beer, wine and liquor products on the market. So the startup built new technology that lets retail partners place special orders with wholesalers, significantly increasing the number of products the retailers can sell. And the new service adds no extra cost to the fixed-rate fee retailers pay Drizly to accept orders.

“We think we can be a place you can come to find items where you can’t find anywhere else,” Rellas said, much in the way that Amazon quickly became an online destination for finding all kinds of books when it first started out.

By moving beyond one-hour delivery, Drizly is transforming itself from being the “Uber for booze” to the “Amazon for booze,” and it continues to place the startup ahead of Amazon, which currently provides one-hour alcohol delivery in three markets-far fewer than the 20 markets Drizly currently operates it.

Rellas said he has fended off suggestions to move beyond the alcohol and beverage market, adding that Drizly’s focus is what will help it stay ahead of Amazon and other competitors. He indicated that the startup has a few more announcements to make that will take it even deeper into the market for beer, wine and liquor.

“Focus is key for us,” Rellas said.