The decision of the state government during lock-down to allow liquor sales had ended-up with long queues and crowd-flooded wine shops. Amidst the lock-down, to avoid such huge gatherings outside the wine shops, there came a suggestion from the central government according to which states should reveal a green signal to alcohol home delivery during the lock-down. This decision might sound normal to a few of you, but some who were tolerating these rough summers for a long time with no beer might have tasted a drop of relief.
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Why the State Government Decided to Open the Doors for Alcohol Delivery?
By witnessing huge losses experienced by the state government, during the lock-down because of a pandemic situation, Indian states accumulated Rs 15,000 Cr per month as the excise duty on the alcohol, in the year 2019-20, following a report by the Reserve Bank of India, on an average. This has magnetised the attention of various eCommerce companies eyeing the business of alcohol, in India, which is valued at Rs 2.4 Lakh Cr. as anticipated by Statista. In the eCommerce segment, alcohol delivery is soon to be the forthcoming big thing. Altogether, it will prove to be great for the Indian economy.
For most of the eCommerce companies, home delivery of alcohol might be a lucrative business as many states may continue to be locked for more and the consumers are cautious of picking alcohol from liquor stores because of the risk involved.
But, before you rush, be warned that because of the increased excise duties, imposed by the states, your liquor bottles are going to charge you more. On the other edge, today, other states are also in conversation with the food aggregators to incorporate more probabilities for the alcohol home delivery.
eCommerce Firms, About to Step-into Alcohol Delivery
eCommerce firms that are wandering into this corner are busy with sketching distinctive technology for age verification that is imperative from a regulatory compliance point.
While peeping into the past clock, we got to know that the start-ups, like Drinkify, HipBar, and Liqhub attempted hard at alcohol delivery, but were attacked by the regulatory bars. Chief executive at Third Eyesight, Devangshu Dutta, said, “Since every state has its own set of rules, adhering to them will be challenging for the companies entering this space, especially when they are eyeing pan-India operations.” His thoughts are reaching us by his words that states that just following the varied regulatory guidelines would not be simple for these brands.
Zomato & Swiggy – Finding a Way Out
On the other edge, the famed food aggregators, Zomato and Swiggy are already running alcohol food delivery services in West Bengal, Odisha, and Jharkhand. Among these two, Zomato has endorsed a two-way verification process that comes up with the age of the user, while Swiggy has built an AI-based feature, namely face-recognition with OTP to automatically obtain user authentication and age verification. A Swiggy spokesperson said, “We have mandated a one-time instant age verification followed by a selfie of the customer. The integrated solution instantly digitizes the customer’s identity card, checks if the customer’s selfie matches the picture on the card, and then checks if the customer is really present in it or if it is a photo of a photo,”. Safeguarding its delivery partners, the company has rolled out a crowd control feature that assures no overcrowding through peak hours at the retail stores.
These brands are now tying up with the authorized retailers in certain cities for the delivery. For example, Zomato holds all in total 250 retailers right on the board so far, moreover, clutches blueprints to partner with all the authorized government retailers in the active cities. Chief Sales Officer at Zomato, Rakesh Ranjan says, “Alcohol delivery is complex, involving multiple stakeholders — governments, retailers, and brands — and strict operating guidelines. These are early days and it faces challenges typical to any new category, such as technology adoption by suppliers, stock availability, etc,”. A Zomato spokesperson said, “With due permissions and licenses in place, we are starting home delivery of alcohol in Jharkhand,”.
On average, Swiggy and Zomato are charging Rs 60 to 100 per order for the delivery, relying on the size of the order and the distance covered. Well, the delivery fee has been fixed by the Odisha government and is frozen at Rs 100 for the orders up to Rs 1,000 and for Rs 500, charges will go high by Rs 25, along with a cover of Rs 300 on the delivery charges.
According to a national leader and partner – e-commerce and consumer internet, EY India, Ankur Pahwa, a “reasonable” charge for the delivery is vital in the pick of this service. He also said, “A customer buying 10 bottles of beer would not mind shelling out Rs 100 as the delivery fee, but someone buying one or two products may not want to spend as much on delivery.” As per his prediction, when customers will intent on stocking for a month, the food aggregators would witness planned orders approaching them.
Amazon & BigBasket – Walking on a Different Track
Recently, Amazon & BigBasket acquired the licenses for alcohol delivery in West Bengal.
As per a document witnessed by Reuters, Amazon.com Inc has acquired a clearance to alcohol delivery in the eastern state of India, West Bengal, which signals a new push of the eCommerce giant of the US into the multi-billion-dollar sector of the country. India’s fourth populous state, West Bengal holds a population of more than 90 million people. In a notice, the authorized agency, West Bengal State Beverages Corp, is to conduct online retail of liquor trade in the state. Amazon is among the firms that are picked as eligible for registration with the authorities. Furthermore, Amazon is also invited to sign a memorandum of understanding with the state, the notice reveals. Though, Amazon has not responded to a request for a comment. In West Bengal, the interest of Amazon in alcohol delivery sketches a deep mark to dig a track towards the market that is worth $27.2 billion, as per the IWSR Drinks Market Analysis’s estimates. Since years, Amazon has spread its eCommerce operations in India as an increasing number of people browse online to shop for almost everything, from groceries to electronics, and more. In India, the brand has invested $6.5 billion.
Alibaba-supported, Indian grocery venture, BigBasket has also caught an approval to deliver alcohol in the state, again said the notice. Also, BigBasket has treated a request for comment, as a pass over. Well, each state marks its alcohol sales policy. Last month, West Bengal invited the brands to reflect interest for “handling purchase, electronic ordering, sale, and alcohol home delivery from licensed retail stores to the eligible legal-age consumers of the state.
Facts About Alcohol Home Delivery- A Brief
Post knowing the whole scenario about Alcohol delivery, next we will move onto the advantages of such a big step by the state government of India.
- Kick start to alcohol delivery at your doorstep would prove to be the best for economic growth.
- Well, as we all know, we all are experiencing a pandemic situation, so amidst COVID-19, it would be great if people get home delivery for their liquor habits. This will make them, “Stay Home, Stay Safe & Enjoy Drinks”.
- Well, as we all know, the liquor business demands a license, and to get that the retailers pay a big amount to the government. So, why do they get hampered by the Corona disease? They should also be given relaxation.
- Also, most of the people start drinking on the streets or are caught in drink and drive cases. So, online liquor delivery would be a huge relaxation from this point.
So, this is accepted to be one of the best decisions of the state government in which it has approved the liquor authorized retailers to run their business successfully.
A Complete List of Apps & Websites State-Wise to Get the Delivery of Alcohol at Your Doorstep
With no delay ahead, below we will let you know how you can avail alcohol home delivery, relying on your state. Let you know, however, liquor selling may be available in specific parts of your state, but it might be possible that your city has still not resumed this service.
- Maharashtra
Before allowing your hopes to jump, let’s first crack some bad news. While the government of Maharashtra has permitted for the e-token system for the liquor stores, such services will not respire in Mumbai, as it comes under top Coronavirus hotspots in the whole country. The situation is the same in Thane, Nagpur, & Aurangabad.
People can log onto – http://www.mahaexcise.com and register themselves to grab the benefits of the service.
- Chattisgarh
The Chhattisgarh government is also all set with a website and an app for its people living in the green zone.
They need to log on to: https://excise.cg.nic.in/csmcl or download the CSMCL Online from Google Play Store.
- West Bengal
For the Web Bengal citizens, who are over 21 years, the state has come up with a website.
You can log on to: https://excise.wb.gov.in/eRetail/Page/eRetail_Login.aspx and place the orders through the State Beverages Corporation (BEVCO).
- Delhi
In the Capital, only 160 shops are open.
You may log on to: www.qtoken.in to apply for the liquor purchase token. The website just issues 50 tokens/hour.
- Odisha
The residents of Odisha can place their liquor orders at Beverage Corporation Limited website of the state.
You need to log on to: https://osbc.co.in/Onlinepay/RetailLogin.aspx.
- Punjab
In Punjab also you can get alcohol delivered at your home within the limit offered. In the state, every neighborhood will be provided a delivery window and just the registered delivery persons holding proper IDs along with curfew passes will be permitted to deliver in an authorized vehicle.
- Tamil Nadu
The government of this state has also introduced an app for liquor home delivery. It performs similarly to Swiggy and Zomato applications.
You need to download: TASMAC Online App.
Wrapping Lines
Well, as we have noticed so far, Alcohol Home Delivery mobile apps are soon going to attain new heights, even beyond our anticipation. So, if you spot it again, from a business outlook, you will visualize your Online Alcohol Delivery business earning great success in the market. There are various points that will make your doubts clear. From the aforementioned content, we can conclude that the Alcohol Delivery Business is going to spread wider. It will shortly gain more responses than expected. As we notice, in India, the liquor shops are ordered to wind-up till 8 PM. Such restrictions will make online liquor delivery mobile apps, a knock-out, perfectly. Soon, more states will allow alcohol delivery in their areas and soon, we will see this alcohol home delivery business attaining success and covering a huge market, as well.
So, connect today with a leading Alcohol Delivery Mobile App Development Company to know about the process of alcohol delivery app development or other liquor delivery platforms.
