DoorDash Expands Alcohol To-Go Services

On-demand alcohol service can now be enjoyed by more legal-age drinkers, thanks to DoorDash. The technology company has facilitated the delivery of beer, wine and spirits via the DoorDash Marketplace, allowing customers across 20 states and the District of Columbia to order these adult beverages for delivery or pickup from thousands of restaurants, grocery stores and retailers. 

This news follows a multiyear journey of fulfilling alcohol on-demand delivery for many national and local merchants via their own channels with DoorDash Drive, DoorDash’s white-label fulfillment service.  

According to a recent Nielsen report, alcohol is the fastest-growing e-commerce vertical across all consumer packaged goods, and many retailers on DoorDash see increased incremental sales due to the reach and visibility of the DoorDash Marketplace.

DoorDash has built an alcohol catalog of 30,000 SKUs available for purchase across thousands of retailers and restaurants nationally, whether it’s to-go drinks from a favorite local restaurant or a celebratory bottle of champagne from a nearby local store. With the recent rollout of DoubleDash, customers in select markets can also bundle alcohol with their restaurant meals on certain orders. 

“Over the past year, many cities where we operate evolved their legislation in order to permit the delivery of alcohol to residents’ homes. Over that time, we worked tirelessly to build a trusted alcohol ordering and delivery experience for merchants, customers and Dashers,” said Caitlin Macnamara, director, alcohol strategy and operations at San Francisco-based DoorDash. “We’re committed to providing new earning opportunities for merchants and Dashers; a safe, high- quality experience for customers; and being a responsible leader in compliant alcohol delivery.”   

The company has implemented several safeguards when delivering alcohol, including:

• Rigorous identification verification prior to checkout and multiple ID checkpoints along the delivery process to ensure that customers are of legal age. More on the company’s ID verification processes and other restrictions on alcohol delivery can be found here.
• A compliance course available to Dashers 21 years or older to ensure that Dashers are aware of the laws regarding the delivery of alcohol, and regular communication with Dashers across the timespan of a delivery to remind them of the proper protocols for lawful delivery. 
• Enabling customers to voluntarily exclude themselves from receiving alcohol orders from DoorDash. An exclusion from alcohol delivery will also exclude people from direct-marketing communication in regard to alcohol-related promos. 
• Additional support and resources related to alcohol consumption can be accessed anytime here.

To reinforce these commitments, DoorDash has partnered with two organizations —Responsibility.org and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) — aimed at promoting alcohol responsibility and preventing underage drinking. 

“We are proud to work alongside DoorDash to strengthen responsibility efforts in our communities and on our roadways by providing guidance and proven resources to help prevent impaired driving and underage drinking,” said Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States and Arlington, Va.-based  Responsibility.org. “Whether you’re a Dasher, a restaurant employee or a customer — we are all stronger when we’re united by a commitment to a culture of alcohol responsibility.” 

DoorDash connects consumers with their favorite local and national businesses in more than 4,000 cities across the United States, Canada, Australia, and Japan. Founded in 2013, the company enables local businesses to address consumers' expectations of ease and immediacy through its last-mile logistics infrastructure.