After Amazon, Walmart Owned Flipkart Explores Alcohol Delivery

• After Amazon, Walmart owned Flipkart explores alcohol delivery in its platform.
• Flipkart has partnered with Hipbar to deliver alcohol in two Indian states, shows government letters.
• Customers will be allowed to access Hipbar's application on Flipkart to order alcohol online.

After Amazon, Walmart owned company Flipkart has reportedly partnered with Hipbar to deliver alcohol in West Bengal and Odisha.

Flipkart has partnered with a startup backed by Spirits Giant Diageo to deliver alcohol in two different states. Customers will be allowed to access Hipbar's application on the Flipkart app and website to order alcohol online.

Other online platforms like Amazon, Bigbasket, Zomato, and Swiggy have also ventured into this segment due to its market growth. According to the estimates by WSR Drinks Market, the Alcohol market in India is worth more than $27.2 billion.

Furthermore, Flipkart will be delivering alcohol in West Bengal and Odisha. The government of West Bengal and Odisha have said that Flipkart can be associated as a technology service provider of Diageo -backed HipBar, an Indian alcohol home delivery mobile application.

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Moreover, According to the state government letter, Customers will be allowed to place orders for their favorite drink/alcohol. The Hip Bar then will collect the item from the retail outlets to deliver it to the end customer.

"Flipkart wants to make sure that whatever customer wants, they get it. The margins (on liquor deliveries) may be low, but for Flipkart, it is about stickiness so the customer doesn't have to anywhere else," said a source close to Flipkart.

Platforms like Amazon, Zomato, and Swiggy have also started delivering liquor in some cities, as companies look to the demand for liquor during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through this customers don't have to go outside to buy alcohol.

Jharkhand was the first state to allow the delivery of liquors by online platforms. In some states like Gujarat, Alcohol retail is prohibited. Since then, because of the COVID-19, some states have allowed the delivery of alcohol by online platforms.

Hipbar has developed a stringent age verification process as well as highly compliant standard operating procedures to ensure that the company’s delivery service fosters a safe drinking environment in India.

The company Hip Bar was backed by Diageo India, which owns a 26% stake of Hip Bar. Diageo India is a subsidiary company of the U.K's beverage company Diageo which manufactures premium drinks, alcohol, and beers in the country. Some of them are Johnnie Walker, Black Dog, Black & White, VAT 69, Antiquity, Signature, Royal Challenge, McDowell’s No.1, Smirnoff, Captain Morgan, and Four Seasons.

Online food aggregators Zomato and Swiggy have already started alcohol delivery in Jharkhand in May 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown. Due to the COVID-19 social distancing, many states have started online delivery of alcohol like Maharashtra, West Bengal, Odisha, Kerela, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu.

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