Delivery startup, goPuff announced today that it is acquiring booze retailer BevMo for $350 million. Bloomberg was first to report the story earlier today, with goPuff sending out press release confirming the news later this morning.
GoPuff is a delivery service that has a network of more than 200 micro-fulfillment centers serving more than 500 U.S. cities. The service is available 24 hours a day to deliver everyday goods like groceries, baby and pet products and booze within 30 minutes. Each delivery carries a $1.95 delivery fee ($10.95 order minimum), and there is a subscription option for $5.95 a month.
With the acquisition, goPuff will get an accelerated entrance into the California. BevMo has 161 stores throughout California, Arizona and Washington state. Not only does this give goPuff access to the “millions” of BevMo customers, but all those BevMo buildings can serve as fulfillment centers to deliver bottles of wine and baby bottles.
GoPuff raised $380 million in new funding last month and has raised a total of $1.2 billion. It’s deep pockets and purchase of BevMo continue the accelerated evolution of convenience store delivery we’ve seen during the pandemic.
DoorDash and Instacart both offer delivery from convenience stores now. DoorDash even took things a step further with the creation of its own chain of dark convenience stores from which the company operates delivery services.
GoPuff is also part of the burgeoning micro-fulfillment trend, which forsakes huge, centralized warehouses in favor of smaller, neighborhood facilities that don’t house as many items. Grocery retailers H-E-B and Albertsons have both announced micro-fulfillment centers to process online orders.
According to today’s press announcement, goPuff’s acquisition of BevMo is expected to close within 30 days.
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