Ask and Ye shall receive. Welp, it looks like in 2021 there will be spikes in 2 things, the price of liquor, and the amount of people joining the AA. Oh, I kid. Surely that won’t be the case…. Well hopefully, I should say. But Uber has placed it’s bets on alcohol delivery as it’s next big endeavor, and it begun the foundation of that project with the acquisition of the lightly popular alcohol delivery app, Drizly.
Drizly has been making waves and creating all sorts of social adds to help promote and build out a following of customers looking for a more convenient way to get alcohol. Well, with a simple sign up, an ID check, and a way of paying, you can get grandpa’s medicine delivered right to your doorstep. Uber noticed this kind of growth in a delivery market and decided to pounce. With GrubHub and Postmates getting acquired and one of the buyers was in fact Uber, now the same company that took out Postmates is on a mission to take its last bit of competition off the table, DoorDash. Uber as of recent and more than likely because of the pandemic, has stepped largely into the delivery industry, eating away at competition, and filling us fat fucks up with overpriced Chinese food that we were too lazy to get up and drive to. That same kind of “own the market at all costs” mentality is easily getting flipped into the alcohol world. Of course, the regulations are a constant battle, but Uber has been taking on that war for a long time, and they are well versed in the world of regulations, lawsuits, and employee benefits. It seems like the acquisition of Drizly will be one more box to check off as Uber continues to build its delivery empire.
Drizly has been building since 2012, and has amassed a fairly large marketplace because of that. The price tag says a lot about Drizly, as a billion-dollar valuation is never a bad thing, but it puts into question the power of their marketplace. Uber now has complete access though, as Drizly finds its place under the umbrella of a company. There are plenty of other regulations to take into account and the acquisition should happen in the first half of 2021, so Uber has time to prepare the Drizly takeover. The next question is, what is still out there to acquire, merge with, destroy? Uber has set its sites on plenty of opportunities, but as of recent the main focus is delivery overall. DoorDash and Uber will fight the rest of it out in a similar fashion to when Uber fought Lyft for rides.
Uber is slowly taking the market on delivery, a small but impactful pivot for the company that could lead them to the next big venture, and now being on the stock market as well, Uber could be your next taxi and your next delivery guy.
Anyway, that’s my take on it. Until next time. -GS
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