Uber has decided to pour out its Boston-based alcohol delivery service Drizly. The tech giant will be shutting down the app at the end of March, as they intend to streamline their services and focus on their core strategy involving the Uber Eats platform. The news came first on Monday from Axios, then confirmed by the company to WBUR.
Uber's shuttering of Drizly marks the end of a brief era for the company, which it purchased in a $1.1 billion deal in 2021, in what appeared to be an expansion into providing a variety of door-to-door delivery services – including groceries, prescriptions, and yes, alcohol. However, the vision for a separate app dedicated to liquor is fizzling out, and as Drizly posted on what's now known as the X platform, "We'll be sure to let you know when it’s last call," in a statement retrieved by WBUR.
Pierre Dimitri Gore-Coty, Uber’s senior vice president of delivery, clarified the company's decision, stating they are seeking to focus on our core Uber Eats strategy of helping consumers get almost anything — from food to groceries to alcohol — all on a single app, according to details he relayed to WBUR. Drizly is set to be fully integrated into the Uber Eats service, effectively blending their offerings on a unified front.
While Uber is casting off Drizly's standalone service, they do plan to absorb some of its successful strategies into their own BevAlc offerings – a section within Uber Eats that caters to alcohol delivery throughout the United States and several other countries. The company stated in an email to The Associated Press that the majority of Drizly's customers have Uber accounts, indicating a groundwork for a smooth transition, although it's unclear how Drizly's partnerships with local retailers might change, as per Axios's original report.
A Cambridge liquor store manager expressed dissatisfaction with this shift to The Boston Herald, stating that "Drizly was the most convenient for the customer and us" and hinting at a less than favorable view of Uber Eats’ system. Despite this, Rob Mellion, executive director of the Massachusetts Package Stores Association shared a silver lining, saying “The relationship that they have with their local package store will remain the same.”
Mellion, in his interview with The Boston Herald, highlighted that many stores have developed their delivery systems in recent years, hinting at a marketplace adaptability that could potentially offset the vanishing of Drizly's distinctive platform. In the meantime, Drizly ensures their operations will continue through the end of March.
