Uber completed its $1.1 billion Drizly acquisition in October 2021. The attraction was obvious: more order occasions on an app that already had delivery workers and consumers. Alcohol also brought age checks and merchant rules that made it different from a second restaurant category.
I liked the logic of filling unused courier time, but the deal needed more than a bigger menu to work. Uber had to turn Drizly customers into repeat Uber orders without making delivery or compliance more expensive than the extra margin. That’s the test I would have watched, not the acquisition price alone.