Policy

Alcohol Delivery Boosts Dasher Earnings and Provides New Revenue for Merchants

Six months ago, we announced that DoorDash would be facilitating the delivery of beer, wine, and spirits via the DoorDash Marketplace. Today, customers across 22 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and markets around the world can responsibly order alcohol through our platform. We recognize customers are seeking safe ways to order alcohol and appreciate that policymakers in a number of states have shifted regulations to enable alcohol takeout and delivery. By facilitating the delivery of beer, wine, and spirits, DoorDash can help merchants grow their business, enable customers to purchase alcohol safely from home, and provide Dashers with additional earning opportunities. We’re eager to show the impact this new service can have on our community.

3/31/22
doordash placeholder logo background

Six months ago, we announced that DoorDash would be facilitating the delivery of beer, wine, and spirits via the DoorDash Marketplace. Today, customers across 22 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and markets around the world can responsibly order alcohol through our platform. We recognize customers are seeking safe ways to order alcohol and appreciate that policymakers in a number of states have shifted regulations to enable alcohol takeout and delivery. By facilitating the delivery of beer, wine, and spirits, DoorDash can help merchants grow their business, enable customers to purchase alcohol safely from home, and provide Dashers with additional earning opportunities. We’re eager to show the impact this new service can have on our community.

Beyond expanding consumer choice and promoting access to a wider selection of local retailers, alcohol delivery creates significant benefits for Dashers and merchants nationwide. We estimate that adding alcohol may increase restaurants’ and grocers’ average customer order values by up to 30% and convenience stores by over 50%. These orders provide additional earning opportunities for Dashers and tend to have higher average order values, which helps increase Dasher earnings. In Q4 2021, U.S. Dashers earned, on average, almost 30% more on deliveries with alcohol than on non-alcohol deliveries.* And from October to December, the number of merchants selling alcohol on the platform in the U.S. increased by 17% nationally.

Alcohol delivery has also yielded overwhelmingly positive results at the local level. Today, many states allow for direct delivery of alcohol to consumers’ homes, and we’re seeing strong impacts on earnings for Dashers as more merchants embrace delivery.* For instance, looking at October through December (Q4 2021) in just a few states that allow alcohol delivery:

  • In California, Dashers earned on average 22% more for deliveries with alcohol than non-alcohol deliveries. From the month of October to the month of December, the number of merchants selling alcohol through our platform increased by 10%.

  • In Connecticut, Dashers earned on average 22% more for deliveries with alcohol than non-alcohol deliveries. From the month of October to the month of December, the number of merchants selling alcohol through our platform increased by 22%.

  • In Ohio, Dashers earned on average 34% more for deliveries with alcohol than non-alcohol deliveries. From the month of October to the month of December, the number of merchants selling alcohol through our platform increased by 16%.

  • In Oregon, Dashers earned on average 21% more for deliveries with alcohol than non-alcohol deliveries. From the month of October to the month of December, the number of merchants selling alcohol through our platform increased by 26%.

  • In Virginia, Dashers earned on average 14% more for deliveries with alcohol than non-alcohol deliveries. From the month of October to the month of December, the number of merchants selling alcohol through our platform increased by 14%.

  • In Washington, Dashers earned on average 19% more for deliveries with alcohol than non-alcohol deliveries. From the month of October to the month of December, the number of merchants selling alcohol through our platform increased by 36%.

Delivery is just one way that advancements in alcohol regulations can benefit consumers and small businesses. DoorDash stands with restaurants in supporting the passage of permanent legislation to allow for the sale of to-go drinks in additional states, which provided a lifeline for restaurants during the worst of the pandemic and continues to play an important role in expanding sales as the industry builds back from the global pandemic.

We are focused on working with policymakers, community leaders, merchants, and other stakeholders on ways to ensure that we can continue to expand alcohol delivery across regions in a safe and responsible way. This includes rigorous ID verification, compliance courses for Dashers aged 21+ where required by law, and working with groups like Responsibility.org, the National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives (NAWLEE), and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD).

“We’re proud to partner with DoorDash to help educate Dashers about alcohol safety and responsibility and arm them with the tools to prevent sales to minors as well as prevent irresponsible consumption through alcohol delivery,” said Brandy Axdahl, Senior Vice President, Responsibility Initiatives, Responsibility.org. “It is important to stay nimble in our approach to preventing underage drinking, impaired driving and irresponsible drinking. We’re eager to put our shared commitment into practice by helping ensure alcohol responsibility remains a top priority — no matter how people obtain beverage alcohol.”

Our commitment to empowering Dashers with new opportunities, connecting merchants to new customers, and supporting our communities is at the forefront of all that we do. Alcohol is the fastest growing vertical across all consumer packaged goods and we’re encouraged by what we’ve seen it mean for our community. We entered into this new area of business with overwhelming support from our users, and look forward to this next phase to provide even more ways for people to earn, for merchants to prosper, and for customers to continue discovering their communities.

To learn more about how we support the sale and delivery of alcohol responsibly and compliantly, visit our Help Center. If you do not wish to receive alcohol items on DoorDash, click here.

*Based on Dasher earnings while on a delivery. Actual earnings may differ and depend on factors like number of deliveries completed, time of day, location, and expenses.

Author

Policy Research

Policy Research

Policy Research