Today we’re proud to announce that New Jersey consumers can now have alcohol products from local merchants safely delivered to their homes through the DoorDash platform. DoorDash has become the first third-party platform to offer safe alcohol delivery in the Garden State.
Beginning November 16, 2023, New Jersey consumers will be able to responsibly order beer and wine from eligible local merchants. Consumers in the Garden State will now be able to toggle to the Alcohol tab of the DoorDash App to browse and safely order from a wide selection of beverages.
“This is a huge step forward for consumers across New Jersey who will now be able enjoy the convenience of having alcohol delivered safely to their doors from their favorite local businesses through the DoorDash platform,” said Erik Ragotte, DoorDash's General Manager of Alcohol and Convenience. “Importantly, we’ve worked hard to build a best-in-class alcohol delivery platform with robust safeguards, like our ID verification process, that ensure that all deliveries are done responsibly. We look forward to continuing to work closely with the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control and continuing to lead the industry forward on safe and responsible alcohol delivery.”
We continue seeing strong and sustained demand from consumers for alcohol delivery, creating opportunities for merchants to grow online. According to our 2023 Alcohol Ordering Trends report, 60% of surveyed consumers report using on-demand alcohol delivery more than the previous year.
Safety Comes First
For consumers in New Jersey, our priority is to deliver alcohol in a safe and responsible manner. That’s why we’ve put in place robust and industry-leading safety features:
State-of-the-art ID Verification: Central to our efforts on helping ensure safe alcohol delivery is our state-of-the-art ID verification process, which requires that IDs are scanned not only before the first alcohol purchase but also again at the door, on top of a physical ID check at the point of delivery — in many cases going above what is used for a typical in-store transaction. Only after verifying the consumer’s age and checking for any signs of intoxication may the delivery be completed.
High-Risk Area Bans: We understand that even one delivery of alcohol made to underage consumers is too many. Even before an order can be placed, we will be proactively blocking deliveries to certain high-risk areas such as college campuses and other similar locations where unsafe deliveries to underage consumers could be made.
Dasher Compliance Modules: Dashers in New Jersey interested in accepting offers including alcohol are required to complete a course on safe and responsible delivery, and we will provide detailed guidelines to those Dashers on how to safely and compliantly deliver alcohol.
Self-Exclusion Register: We know that there are still some consumers who don't want alcohol delivered. That’s why we also have a voluntarily self-exclusion list so consumers can easily stop seeing alcohol via our Marketplace platform.
Return Flow: If a delivery cannot be completed, Dashers are provided with step-by-step prompts to return the alcohol to the store. Dashers will be paid for the whole trip, including the original pay plus more for the return. Simply put: Dashers will never have to choose between completing a delivery or complying with the law.
Our commitment to empowering local economies means offering New Jersey merchants new ways to grow their business, providing Dashers with new opportunities to earn, and connecting consumers with the best of their communities across the Garden State. Since launching alcohol on our Marketplace in 2020, DoorDash has seen demand for responsible alcohol delivery continue to grow. From 2021 to 2022, there was a greater than 100% year-over-year growth for alcohol pickup and delivery on DoorDash.
We will continue to work closely with the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control to ensure that alcohol delivery can be done safely and New Jersey consumers can enjoy this new offering responsibly.
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To learn more about how we facilitate the sale and delivery of alcohol responsibly and compliantly, visit our Help Center. If you do not wish to receive alcohol items on DoorDash, click here.
