Square (NYSE: SQ) recently announced that they are going to provide the chance for alcohol delivery via Square Online's on-demand delivery feature. With this feature, restaurants, bars, breweries, convenience stores, and so on can permit their customers to buy alcohol from their website and have the order carried out through its delivery partner DoorDash (NYSE: DASH).
In the eyes of many restaurant and retail sellers, this particular opportunity can bring about much more money without the costliness of a delivery fleet and the training of more staff.
Dan Chapman, owner of A.W. Wander Craft Beer and Pizza, a restaurant in Manlius, New York, said, regarding this matter, "Craft beer is really our business, so for us to be able to offer our core product commission free for on-demand delivery is huge. That said, there will always be times when customers would rather have a drink at home - we don't want to miss out on that occasion. Adding a couple of beers to a food delivery is great for the customer and really meaningful to our bottom line."
Square, as a delivery service, combines DoorDash as the delivery provider, and the driver is in charge of confirming the customer's age. The restaurant simply has to get the order ready. Every transaction holds a fee of $1.50 as well as a delivery commission. The fact that restaurants are able to sell alcohol even throughout the pandemic has proven to be a major success for them; many states have even loosened up regarding their rules on alcohol delivery this past year, and some have made the changes permanent.
David Rusenko, head of ecommerce at Square, said, "We're excited to offer a new way for restaurants, retailers, and alcohol sellers to get the most out of their current inventory."
In comparison, UberEats (NYSE: UBER) has utilized the services of Drizly to offer alcohol deliveries recently. The two companies of Square and Uber are in competition with one another, so it would remain questionable as to which service is more preferable. But the offering of Square's DoorDash services surely provides a new way of looking at delivery options that had not been previously considered.