Amazon Tests Two-Hour Booze Delivery In 12 US Cities (foodandwine.com) 74
An anonymous reader quotes SFGate:
Thanks to the Prime Now service, Amazon will now deliver booze to the home, failing house party, mundane family brunch, or other occasion of Prime members in the Bay Area. While Prime Now (a delivery service that comes with a $99 annual Prime membership) is available in 30 different cities across the U.S., the alcohol delivery service can only be accessed in a select 12 of those 30, including San Francisco... Two-hour delivery on booze is free of charge, but if you find yourself in a truly desperate situation, one-hour delivery is available for an extra $7.99. ID's are checked upon delivery by couriers.
A minimum of $30 is required for a delivery, which shouldn't be a problem to hit seeing that prices are slightly higher than standard for what you'd find in your corner liquor store. $26 for a 12-pack of Coronas, $15 for a six-pack of Angry Orchard, and $23 for a bottle of chardonnay, for example... Delivery hours match those of regular Prime Now services, which run from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Amazon is competing with local liquor-delivery services in the Bay Area, according to the article, as well local services in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Amazon began testing liquor deliveries in March in two Ohio cities, then slowly began rolling it out to more, according to Food & Wine magazine (which has a complete list of the 12 cities). "Unlike other markets such as Seattle, which was the first to get alcohol delivery via Prime Now back in 2015, and Manhattan, which just got Prime Now alcohol delivery this past June, Portland can only order beer and wine, and not spirits, through the service. If Portlanders want spirits in a hurry, they'll have to hunt it down a different way like some sort of bourbon-loving caveman."
Amazon is also testing two-hour liquor deliveries in Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, San Diego, and Richmond, Virginia.
A minimum of $30 is required for a delivery, which shouldn't be a problem to hit seeing that prices are slightly higher than standard for what you'd find in your corner liquor store. $26 for a 12-pack of Coronas, $15 for a six-pack of Angry Orchard, and $23 for a bottle of chardonnay, for example... Delivery hours match those of regular Prime Now services, which run from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Amazon is competing with local liquor-delivery services in the Bay Area, according to the article, as well local services in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Amazon began testing liquor deliveries in March in two Ohio cities, then slowly began rolling it out to more, according to Food & Wine magazine (which has a complete list of the 12 cities). "Unlike other markets such as Seattle, which was the first to get alcohol delivery via Prime Now back in 2015, and Manhattan, which just got Prime Now alcohol delivery this past June, Portland can only order beer and wine, and not spirits, through the service. If Portlanders want spirits in a hurry, they'll have to hunt it down a different way like some sort of bourbon-loving caveman."
Amazon is also testing two-hour liquor deliveries in Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, San Diego, and Richmond, Virginia.
Two hours is too long! (Score:2)
Re: Two hours is too long! (Score:1)
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Well, there are more extreme cases. I heard of a wedding party 2ky ago where they ran out of booze; such estimations were mastered even that long ago thus I expect the housekeeper's error to be minimal. Yet the shortage, in modern units, was between 450 and 680 liters. Even assuming the whole village and the village next to it had been invited, the amount of alcohol per person must have been of truly biblical proportions.
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It is a good bet the one who saved the day, simply had everyone turn away while he quietly removed a cauldron of water and replaced it with a cauldron of wine he had stashed.
Just ask Sea Man.
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Perfect!
Re: Two hours is too long! (Score:2)
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I prefer my alternative.
Get in my car, go to the liquor store, chuckle again about them being between a bank and a convenience store, choose bottle of Kraken, pay the $20 (or less if it is on sale) for it; make a little bit of small talk with the nice elderly lady running the place, then head home. Total time involved, anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes.
Bah (Score:4, Informative)
I have 30 minute weed delivery in Denver.
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We grow our own here in Oregon. Been nearly 2 years since I had to pay for weed. And back then, it was a pretty steep $100 an ounce.
And on that note, it is time to go both break and fulfill Mosaic law. In other words, I finish this work that I am doing on the sabbath, and then I can go get stoned. (And I don't even believe in any deities. If I did though, I would put together my own pantheon consisting of my perception of various beings from Sumerian, Egyptian, Earth/Nature Based, and other mythologies
Amazon is finally bringing the taste of... (Score:1)
Canadian prices to US soil.
Re: Amazon is finally bringing the taste of... (Score:1)
Drone Delivery (Score:4, Funny)
*Yawn* Call me when they get drone delivery of booze.
If Dominos can figure out how to deliver a hot pizza, Amazon should be able to figure out how to deliver a cold beer.
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I think beer would be a little more difficult. A 6-pack of beer probably would be about the smallest unit amount you'd want to deliver. 1 metric fluid ounce of water is about but not exactly 1 metric ounce (can we just switch to the metric system already)
Better?
Just when you need it (Score:1)
Election night: "Sorry, we've received too many orders, the earliest is Friday."
Re: Too bad... (Score:2)
Actually with young children at home meaning it is hard to leave the house once they have gone to bed this is fantastically useful....
Ofc small children also mean much less headspace for being organised for your own pleasures. And well sometimes randomly lets just have wine!
Ridiculously high prices (Score:2)
The main problem with Amazon food delivery (and apparently booze too) is the cost. They need to make back their delivery charges, obviously, but the costs mentioned in the article are 25-50% above retail in liquor and corner stores which is already 15-25% above supermarkets. And the only reasons corner stores stay in business is because they accept food stamps as payment for liquor whereas larger retailers like Walmart don't.
Re: Ridiculously high prices (Score:3)
The regional difference is interesting - here in sunny england i have been using this service for some months. Prices are comparable to local stores, and often cheaper...
With the added advanfage of not having to leave the house, pay petrol, etc... ...amazon delivery ftw!
Re: Ridiculously high prices (Score:2)
The same is true of the rest of Amazon's grocery offerings. I figure the break-even for my time is less than a third of what I get on an average weekly trip (for two adults and two children). Maybe self-driving delivery trucks will make prices more compelling.
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No.
Maybe there are some less than reputable stores who do, but as a matter of practice, this is not the case. In most states, you will lose your liquor license for this -- not worth the risk.
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As a matter of practice, in the inner city it is very common. Some food benefits do not have restrictions on purchasing alcohol and most stores will simply trade the value. I've seen it done plenty of times across plenty of corner stores in plenty of cities across the US. I'm sure not all of them do, but most will. There are plenty of stories of journalists finding EBT cards being used at dog tracks, casino's and bingo halls.
Most states simply don't enforce and fewer stores do. Even major stores like Wal-Ma
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We have one liquor store here. And if someone on public assistance were to try to buy booze with their food benefits, she would probably be turning their (possibly) lazy asses in.
I'm confident the convenience store personnel around town would as well.
I screamed OMFG YES!!! (Score:1)
FUCKING DAMMIT. Why isn't the CITY LIST on the post (click) LOAD FASTER DAMMIT!
oh shit -- here -- skim...fucking advertising elements - huh? why the FUCK am I on the dev BROWSER....skim....where THE FUCK IS THE FUCKING CITY Lis- -- oh there and YEEEEESSS!!!!!
THE END
A real true 15-second story from Tales of the Prime
P.S. I love you Jeff Bezos. I have loved you for
$26 for a 12-pack? (Score:5, Insightful)
That is way more than slightly higher than most places near me in the midwest.
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D*mn. That's an insane price for even the snootiest of beers.
If it's only beer, I can walk to the nearest grocery store and back in only half an hour and pay reasonable prices.
I don't even live in a "walkable" city.
Of course I am not holding out high hopes for their selection. That seems to be their weak point with anything in this area.
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Some microbrews are $10 for a four pack now. Not worth it at all.
And that probably gives you a much better buzz for the buck than the cheapo beer flavored waters (you know, like Bud, Coors, etc).
"Free" delivery (Score:2)
Remember the era when eBay commissions were based only on the sales price? Half the products on eBay were a penny plus $14.99 shipping, $49.99 shipping, etc. etc.
This is pretty much the opposite -- "free delivery" for a product overpriced by 40-50%.
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Higher price plus "free" delivery is identical to how "free" shipping works on any ecommerce site. The worst case scenario shipping (otherwise farthest domestic zone especially of weight based) is calculated and added to the price. Anyone with even 2 brain cells to rub together knows that there really is no such thing as free shipping.
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Higher price plus "free" delivery is identical to how "free" shipping works on any ecommerce site.
Except for the inconvenient fact that you pay an annual membership fee for Amazon Prime. Keep rubbing those brain cells.
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Well, I forgot that this did involve Amazon and Prime. oops.
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That is the genius of Amazon. Everybody thought that internet shopping would undercut brick and mortar retailers, and that's what most companies tried. However, Amazon competes on service, not on price, because it turn out that the often cited "brick and mortar" service is not actually that great. And yes, Amazon is expensive, but for many people it is worth it just for the convenience and peace of mind.
Whether it works, we will see. But you have to compare the prices to corner stores, not to supermarkets.
No variety (Score:2)
Wow! (Score:4, Informative)
I live in a small country in Europe and I can get any booze or wine/beer in 5 minutes at the nearest gas station at a much, much lower price or if I'm to drunk to walk or drive, any pizza delivery guy or China/Indian/French restaurant delivery guy will bring it with or without any food to my door in under half an hour at a slightly more expensive price without any proof of age and if he wanted one, the age is 16 for alcohol.
(more expensive than the gas station, not as expensive as in the article, Chardonnay is between 6 and 16 bucks)
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At least in the US you only have to worry about the white supremacists and the police shooting you dead, often at the same time.
I don't think this is new... (Score:2)
I know the twin cities have had Prime Now alcohol delivery for over a year now [startribune.com]. I wonder how many of the other markets are actually new?
Ethanol? (Score:1)
You know its ethanol, right? Am I on slashdot...I thought this crew had more respect for themselves.
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"I thought this crew had more respect for themselves."
Obligatory you must be new here comment
Pink Dot (Score:2)
Since the summary mentions that this is being tested in Los Angeles, how can they not mention that L.A. already has such a delivery service and has for many years now: Pink Dot [wikipedia.org]? I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if Amazon ends up deciding it's more profitable to just serve as another front end for Pink Dot orders.
Simpsons predicted it (Score:1)
(seconds later a small quad copter flies through a conveniently already-opened window, dangling a can of Duff).
The only thing left is to switch to drones to reduce the delivery time.