Booozie, a Hyderabad-based startup and the flagship brand of Innovent Technologies, bagged an alcohol aggregator’s licence in West Bengal for a 10-minute liquor delivery through its newly launched app from this week.
Vivekanand Balijepalli, cofounder and CEO of Booozie, told TOI that it has initially tied up with seven liquor shops in Salt Lake and north Kolkata after receiving a nod from the West Bengal state excise department. Gradually, it plans to tie up with 50 liquor shops across the city in the next 45 days. After expanding its footprints across the city, the service will be expanded to districts. Booozie is also looking at bagging the same licence in Delhi and Bhubaneswar.
The app plans to pick up liquor bottles from the nearest shop and complete the 10-minute delivery with the help of AI (artificial intelligence) which predicts consumer behaviour and order patterns. The state excise department had sought an application for an aggregator a few weeks back. Currently, Swiggy, Spencer’s and Big Basket are doing online home delivery in the state.
The Booozie co-founder pointed out that the online liquor trade in the city is worth Rs 200 crore but it has a potential to go up to Rs 770 crore in the next one-two years. The app will charge Rs 50-150 depending on the order and the distance.
The features of the app include a platform for social engagement promoting responsible drinking, a database of bars/clubs in every city, offers and events at various bars/clubs, an exhaustive catalogue which lists the brands and current MRP (maximum retail price) of brands available in every state of India, tamper-proof online delivery of liquor at the doorstep.
The app CEO has welcomed the move by the West Bengal government to open doors for more aggregators to ease the deficit in the consumer demand and current supply in the market.
“With a paradigm shift in the mindset of the urban consumer, who is accustomed to having everything delivered at the doorstep, it’s about time that a product so widely consumed also be made available. Even better, if it could be done within 10 minutes. With the advent of cutting-edge technologies and Booozie’s commitment to responsible drinking, most of the apprehensions associated with liquor delivery such as delivery to under-age persons, adulteration, excessive consumption etc have been addressed,” said Balijepalli.
Source: TimesofIndia
