Dive Brief:
- Sam’s Club will now offer same-day alcohol delivery through Instacart, according to a company press release. Alcohol delivery will be available at more than 200 stores across ten states, mostly in Florida, California and Missouri.
- Instacart said it will bring alcohol delivery to more Sam's stores in the coming months. Products available for delivery will include brand name beer, wine and liquor as well as Member's Mark private label alcohol.
- Sam's Club and Instacart have also expanded their same-day online grocery delivery to all locations, which is nearly 600 stores.
Dive Insight:
Summer is a busy season for alcohol sales, and launching same-day delivery on a wide range of products now is one way Sam's Club's hopes to one-up its competition.
U.S. online alcohol sales reached $253.8 billion in 2018, a 5.1% increase from 2017, according to a report from beverage consulting firm bw166. Rabobank predicts that online grocery, which currently only accounts for 5% of digital alcohol purchases, could eventually become the most important driver of alcohol sales.
Retailers and distributors are figuring out how to navigate local laws regarding delivery for beer, wine and spirits, opening the floodgates for alcohol in e-commerce. This has created a new opportunity for retailers to up their omnichannel game and diversify their offerings to lure thirsty consumers.
Instacart is one of the front runners in grocery e-commerce with more than 80% of U.S. households having access to its services. The company is banking on booze to keep its position strong amid rising competition among online grocery vendors. In March, Instacart added same-day alcohol delivery to reach over 40 million households in the U.S. across 14 states and the District of Columbia. One-third of its retail partners — including Publix, Kroger, Albertsons and specialty stores like BevMo — offer some form of alcohol delivery.
When it comes to grocery delivery, Instacart continues to make expansion progress with both regional and national partnerships. In additon to Sam's Club, the company has recently ramped up its offerings with The Fresh Market, Sprouts, Harps and Piggly Wiggly Midwest.
Instacart has also announced changes to its executive team, adding two tech veterans to the company. Mark Killick, former vice president of care at Grubhub, is joining as vice president of community operations in Instacart’s Atlanta office. George O’Brien, former director of product management at Dropbox, is joining Instacart’s San Francisco office as vice president of shopper product.
