7-Eleven buys alcohol delivery firm Tipple
Wooing those Millennial couch potatoes. After AB-InBev bought the online alcohol retailer BoozeBud in early August 2018, the 7-Eleven Group has acquired a majority stake in the alcohol delivery start-up Tipple. The transaction was announced on 14 August 2018. No financial details were disclosed.
Founded in 2015 and offering over 500 different alcoholic beverages on its app, Tipple is best described as a virtual liquor shop that does home deliveries. Like a pizza service for booze, Tipple delivers orders cooled in 30 minutes to shoppers’ homes by partnering with local and independent bottle shops. The drivers are employed by Tipple.
BoozeBud, on the other hand, functions as an online market place. Producers both big and small can list their products for sale, and at present, there are over 400+ brands and 2,500 products listed on the website. BoozeBud delivers everything from craft beer, wine, spirits and mixers directly to homes. All items are generally shipped next business day.
All deliveries on Tipple are charged at a flat rate of AUD 7.95 (USD 5.80). To keep the delivery fee as low as possible Tipple’s minimum order is AUD 30 (USD 22). That is two six packs of beer if you are lucky. The average order is AUD 70 (USD 51), Tipple says.
The business currently operates in more than 120 suburbs in Melbourne and Sydney, with more cities and bottle shop partners targeted for the next twelve months. Already over two thirds of Australians – 15 million out of 25 million people – live in capital cities like Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.
Tipple’s app integrates with bottle shops (their warehouses, so to speak) and facilitates on-demand delivery logistics. As Tipple interprets its data wisely, it can identify trends in each suburb and ultimately know where the demand lies.
For example, Tipple data have shown that the suburb of Fitzroy in Melbourne’s inner north has the largest customer demand for craft beers and organic wines, while suburbs like Elwood and St Kilda record the highest demand for Pinot Noir on the Tipple app. Sharing the data with bottle shops allows the latter to better suit their shop offerings to local demand.
As a chain of convenience stores, 7-Eleven is keen to meet the evolving needs of its customers through digital, delivery and in-store services. For the time being, 7-Eleven will help Tipple to grow and expand as a stand-alone business. Ultimately, the two will look at ways to cooperate. 7-Eleven currently operates nearly 700 outlets across Australia.
