Uber to shut down alcohol delivery service Drizly in US

Uber shuts down Drizly: Uber has decided to shutter its alcohol delivery service, Drizly, three years after acquiring it for $1.1 billion. Despite initial plans to integrate Drizly into Uber Eats, the taxi company opted to keep Drizly operating independently until now. The discontinuation of the Drizly brand is set for March 2024.

Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, SVP of Delivery at Uber, stated, "After three years of Drizly operating independently within the Uber family, we’ve decided to close the business and focus on our core Uber Eats strategy of helping consumers get almost anything – from food to groceries to alcohol – all on a single app."

Uber expressed gratitude to the Drizly team for their contributions to the growth of the BevAlc delivery category. Drizly had faced challenges, including a data breach in 2020 affecting 2.5 million customers. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had ordered Drizly to delete unnecessary personal data and implement a robust security program.

Alcohol delivery via Uber Eats

Uber now aims to concentrate on alcohol delivery through Uber Eats, where it claims to have doubled business in the category globally. Currently, Uber operates alcohol delivery through Uber Eats in 35 US states and 25 countries worldwide.

This move follows Uber's acquisition of Postmates for $2.65 billion in an all-stock deal in 2020. Additionally, Uber Eats has been enhancing its features, exploring chatbot-based options for finding restaurant deals and enabling users to order from two nearby stores simultaneously.