Uber is shutting down alcohol delivery app Drizly, just three years after acquiring it for $1.1 billion.
The service has grown rapidly during the pandemic, with San Francisco-based Uber inking a multibillion-dollar deal with DryZly in 2021, agreeing to operate it as a standalone app and within the Uber Eats interface. As of now, it has recorded 300% growth compared to the previous year. We deliver beer, wine and liquor to customers' doorsteps in over 1,400 cities.
However, the app is currently in its final stages and is scheduled to shut down in March 2024, an Uber spokesperson confirmed to the Post after the news was first shared. Axios.
The spokesperson also assured that alcohol delivery remains available through the Uber Eats app in 35 U.S. states and more than 25 countries around the world.
Pierre Dimitri Gore-Coty, Uber's senior vice president of delivery, said in a statement to the Post: “We are closing our operations and giving consumers access to nearly everything, from food to groceries to groceries. We have decided to focus on our core Uber Eats strategy, which is to support customers.” Alcohol – all in one app. ”
To further strengthen its product delivery portfolio, Uber also closed Corner Shop, an on-demand grocery delivery service it had acquired in October 2019 for $1.4 billion worth of stock and operated in the Latin American market. It was reported. CNN Business.
Corner Shop has been downsizing its business and laid off 250 people, or about 11% of its workforce, in May 2023.
Axios suggested that cybersecurity played a role in Drizly's demise, noting that a 2020 cybersecurity hack compromised the information of about 2.5 million customers. The company was reportedly aware of the flaw two years ago but had not fixed it.
After Uber's acquisition of Drizly, the Federal Trade Commission learned of flawed backend technology that failed to protect user data.
The agency took the unprecedented step of sanctioning James Cory Rellas, then CEO of Drizly, and requiring his company, which collects information from more than 25,000 people, to implement a security program. Ta.
The FTC order also applied to Drizly itself following its acquisition of Uber, limiting the types of customer information the company can collect and retain.
In recent years, Uber acquired food delivery rival Postmates in a $2.65 billion all-stock deal. It's unclear whether any changes will be made to the platform, as Uber intends to put more emphasis on its Uber Eats platform, which was launched in 2014 and currently operates in more than 6,000 cities in 45 countries.
