Three years after the cab-hailing company Uber acquired Drizly (an alcohol delivery service), Uber is shutting it down. Drizly ran independently all this time, and Uber eventually decided to close it, as first reported. At the time of the acquisition Uber planned to integrate Drizly into Uber Eats, but never came did. The company said that the Drizly brand will be discontinued by March 2024.
The decision comes as the company has decided to focus on their core Uber Eats strategy of helping consumers get almost anything – from food to groceries to alcohol – all on a single app. In a statement, Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, SVP of Delivery at Uber, added that they are grateful to the Drizly team for their many contributions to the growth of the BevAlc delivery category as the original industry pioneer.
Long term consumption of Ultra-processed foods and drinks increases the risk of depression.
In 2020, Drizly disclosed that it was affected by a data breach that affected their customers. Last year, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ordered Drizly to delete all personal data that wasn’t required to provide service. Plus, it asked the alcohol delivery service to implement a robust security program.
Uber aims the focus on alcohol delivery through Uber Eats, where it claims to have doubled the business in the category globally. Currently, Uber operates alcohol delivery through Uber Eats in 35 U.S. states and 25 countries across the globe.
Uber purchased Drizly in a cash-and-stock deal back in 2021. The subsidiary continued to operate as a standalone app, with its marketplace also integrated into the Uber Eats platform. In a departure from Uber’s gig economy format, Drizly doesn’t hire or contract its own delivery workers. Instead, it provides backend tech to help local liquor stores make their own deliveries.