7-Eleven buys alcohol delivery start-up Tipple

The convenience giant has bought Australia’s largest alcohol delivery start-up.

Tipple director Matt Walsh, Tipple founder and CEO Ryan Barrington with 7-Eleven CEO Angus McKay.

7-Eleven has bought Melbourne-based alcohol delivery start-up Tipple, purchasing a majority stake in the company for an undisclosed sum.

As The Australian first reported in March, Tipple is Australia’s largest alcohol delivery start-up and is in the midst of a national expansion, growing from one bottle shop in Windsor to now servicing more than 120 suburbs across Melbourne and Sydney.

Tipple CEO Ryan Barrington told The Australian the average sale on Tipple is $70, double that of a bottle shop, and the company was also keen on expanding to other verticals besides alcohol.

7-Eleven was keen to take a sip of the action, with 7-Eleven CEO Angus McKay declaring his company was keen on expanding its interests across digital, delivery and in-store services.

Unlike in the United States for example, 7-Eleven stores in Australia don’t serve alcohol.

“Tipple’s business model and platform is well-aligned with [our] interests, and has grown significantly since starting up less than three years ago,” he said.

“While in time there may be interesting opportunities for the two businesses to explore and work together serving convenience customers, for now this partnership is about bringing our customer insights and marketing expertise to help accelerate the growth and expansion of Tipple as a stand-alone business.”

Mr Barrington said he ‘couldn’t be happier’ to be growing alongside 7-Eleven.

“We started the process about four months ago, with Peter Hill from Hillside Capital. It was a case of ‘right place, right time’, he cold-called 7-Eleven, and it turns out 7-Eleven had their eyes on us too.

“They’ve been very clear they want us to run standalone, they don’t want to ruin our start-up vibe. We’ll be looking to leverage 7-Eleven’s resources and roll out across the country.

“I’m over the moon. We’re very excited about the potential for this partnership to transform the landscape of both alcohol and convenience retailing in Australia.”

Mr Barrington told The Australian that following the local success of Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Amazon, customers now wanted everything delivered on demand, including alcohol.

He added that Tipple drivers were, in general, paid 40 or 50 per cent more than the market average.

“The difference with alcohol is you can do more orders per delivery run,” he said. “With food, it’s one transaction, and if the guy doesn’t answer the door then the food goes cold. With alcohol, it’ll keep. Often with us you’re doing seven, eight or nine orders per hour.

“If you don’t treat them fairly, they’ll leave.”

The deal comes as beverage giant AV InBev this month acquired Tipple rival Booze Bud, through AB InBev’s innovation division, ZX Ventures. That deal was also for an undisclosed sum.

Tipple was represented by Hillside Capital and Gadens as financial and legal advisers in the transaction.