Austin has posted the state’s highest per-capita alcohol sales in recent years.
Total Wine & More opened its first Austin-area location in Sunset Valley in May 2015.
In another sign of Austin’s growing thirst for on-demand alcohol deliveries, Instacart said Tuesday that it is adding Total Wine & More as its newest local partner.
The news comes after the fast-growing delivery service joined forces with Houston-based Spec’s late last year and as several on-demand alcohol delivery apps have launched locally in recent years.
Alcohol is big business in Austin, which has posted the state’s highest per-capita alcohol sales in recent years.
“It’s a continued growth of this ‘Uber’ world that we live in, particularly in Austin,” said Dwight Hill, a Dallas-based partner with retail consulting firm McMillan Doolittle.
Austin marks the second city where Instacart will offer deliveries from Maryland-based Total Wine & More, the largest U.S. independent retailer of wine and liquor with about 100 U.S. locations. The partnership first debuted in Miami.
Total Wine & More opened its first Austin-area location in Sunset Valley in May 2015 and added a Cedar Park store in October.
“Instacart allows us to provide the convenience of same-day delivery as part of our focus on an optimal customer service experience,” said John Jordan, senior vice president of customer experience at Total Wine & More.
San Francisco-based Instacart, which delivers from dozens of grocery retailers in 19 U.S. markets, debuted in Austin in May 2014 and has 10 area retail partners, including Whole Foods Market and H-E-B. It added Spec’s in November.
Customers ordering alcohol on Instacart must show proof of age with delivery.
“As we continue to expand the grocery shopping experience… Total Wine & More is a welcomed partner in the Instacart marketplace,” said Vishwa Chandra, vice president of retail accounts at Instacart.
Instacart’s pricing program allows retailers such as Whole Foods, Petco and Total Wine & More to offer in-store prices because of special agreements. Meanwhile, prices for retailers such as H-E-B and Spec’s may see a markup because Instacart sets prices in those cases.
Instacart offers a free, first delivery for new customers and otherwise charges $5.99 for one-hour delivery and $3.99 for two-hour delivery.
Austin has seen a growing list of on-demand alcohol delivery apps in the past two years, such as Thirstie, Drizly, Top Shelf, Minibar and Dallas-based Lash.
Austin-based BrewDrop was the first app to launch in the spring of 2014. On Tuesday, it was acquired by New York-based delivery.com for an undisclosed amount.
“Since BrewDrop already dominates alcohol delivery in Austin, they’re the perfect partner,” said delivery.com CEO Jed Kleckner.
Delivery.com said the burgeoning on-demand alcohol market is rapidly growing into a key revenue driver for the website.
Staff writers Arianna Auber and Gary Dinges contributed to this report