Online Retailers Ready to Tap Rising Demand for Booze Delivery

Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

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Companies from Amazon.com Inc. to Walmart Inc. are finding that fresh-grocery delivery is challenging. But there’s one niche of the market that seems ripe with opportunity in 2020: booze.

The opportunity is clear: The volume of liquor sold online in the U.S. should more than quadruple by 2024, reaching an estimated value of $13.4 billion, according to researcher IWSR. To take advantage of it, retailers will have to navigate thorny U.S. regulations that make scaling up tough. Liquor sales are governed by a legacy three-tier system that separates manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers. Companies also need to take into account age verification and complicated sales restrictions -- known as “blue laws” -- that vary state by state.