Lizzy Alfs

lalfs@tennessean.com

Forget going to the liquor store to stock up on your favorite beer, wine and spirits.

On-demand alcohol delivery service Drizly launched in the Nashville area this week, promising to bring booze straight to consumers’ doors in less than an hour.

The Boston company that has raised nearly $18 million in venture capital has gained major traction since its first delivery in 2013. Nashville is Drizly’s 23rd market.

How it works: Drizly partners with local liquor stores (Grace’s Plaza Wine & Spirits, Midtown Wine & Spirits, Red Dog Wine & Spirits, The Bottle Shop at McEwan and Red Spirits & Wine) that can deliver alcohol under Tennessee law. Drizly provides the technology for customers to browse inventory from the local stores and order via a free app or the Drizly website. Customers place a minimum order of $30 (subject to change), and the alcohol is delivered within an hour for a $5 fee, with no markups on the cost of the booze. The delivery driver checks and scans IDs.

Drizly also lets consumers schedule alcohol deliveries, earn referral rewards and send alcohol deliveries as a gift.

Drizly is the brainchild of Boston College graduates Nick Rellas and Justin Robinson, who wanted to bring the alcohol industry up to speed with the explosive rise of on-demand technology. Today, consumers can order a taxi service, have clothing delivered and even have gas brought directly to their car with just the touch of a screen.

“(We started by) asking the question, ‘Why can I get an Uber car via my phone in two minutes, why can I get shoes on Amazon … the same day in a lot of markets, but I can’t get beer, wine or spirits delivered to my door reliably within an hour across the country?” Robinson said.

Robinson said Drizly targeted Nashville for expansion because other on-demand companies have found success in the market and Drizly appeals to the tech-savvy consumer. Uber, Lyft, Shipt, Postmates, Favor and Yoshi are among those businesses operating in Nashville.

Also attractive to Drizly was a Tennessee law that places a two-store limit on liquor retailers. The controversial cap keeps large liquor retailers from expanding in the state.

“In Tennessee specifically, where there are no large chain liquor stores, it doesn’t make a lot of sense for (small businesses) to invest in their own website or platform. So we, for them, are the industry-leading outlet to provide plug-n-play e-commerce for these liquor stores and take advantage of the on-demand economy,” Robinson said.

Drizly makes money by taking a flat fee per order from the retailers in the network.

“We recognize the amount of people using rideshare apps to get around downtown Nashville, so we knew that a platform like Drizly would be perfect to share our extensive selection of wine, spirits and beer with residents,” said Paul Patel, owner of Midtown Wine and Spirits, in a statement.

Drizly’s growth plan includes expanding to 30 U.S. markets and three international markets by the end of the year.

Drizly’s Nashville coverage map is available on its website. The company is offering free delivery to new users for first-time orders of $30 or more with the promo code CHEERSTN.

Reach Lizzy Alfs at 615-726-5948 and on Twitter @lizzyalfs.