With holiday drunk driving on the rise, a Denver company hopes to make streets safer this holiday and capitalize on the booming voice commerce industry with a hands-free liquor order and delivery service, the first of its kind in the country. The startup makes it easier for Coloradans to add booze to their party using Alexa or Google Home, not their car keys.
November 19th, 2019, Denver, CO – If you’re too lazy to make dinner, you can pull out your phone and order something on Grubhub. In Denver and Boulder this holiday season, if you’re too lazy or too intoxicated to drive to your neighborhood liquor store, you can tell Alexa to bring you booze instead.
At a time of year when 40% of all traffic deaths are alcohol-related, the founders of Handoff, a Denver based startup, have launched the nation’s first voice-controlled local beer, wine, and liquor delivery service. Using Alexa and Google Home, the voice assistants from Amazon and Google, Handoff officially launched its service in Boulder and Denver this week, after a 6-month beta test in the same two cities. In addition to launching the first voice-controlled alcohol order and delivery service Handoff also launched a companion mobile app and chat-enabled platform, empowering party planners to use their vocal cords or their fingers to order booze.
“My partners, brothers Caden and Miles Mackenzie, and I came up with the idea last summer during a BBQ,” said Handoff co-founder Tommy Riley. “In the middle of the party, we had to draw straws to determine which of us had to go out and buy more alcohol. With Handoff, no one has to get in their car and everyone is safer as a result.” Riley says the company is launching a seasonal slogan along with their platform: “Need Booze for Your Holiday Bash? Use Your Voice, not Your Car Keys!”
Here’s how it works. Through the company’s partnerships with local liquor retailers in Denver and Boulder, thirsty Coloradans can order a six-pack, a case or even an individual bottle of their favorite beer, wine, or hard liquor. Because voice orders to Alexa or Google Home are routed through Handoff to the nearest GPS-tracked partner liquor store, deliveries are guaranteed to arrive within an hour. The surcharge compares favorably with the delivery fee for a large pizza, just $5 dollars per order.
While other retailers deliver alcohol locally, no company is using voice assistant technology and artificial intelligence to make alcohol delivery smarter and faster for the holidays. During its four-month soft launch, Handoff served thousands of customers and expects orders to double during the upcoming holiday season. “There are more than 60 people in my office and there’s always a birthday or another reason to celebrate which means wine or Champagne,” said Lillian Malmberg, who works in downtown Denver and has been a customer and fan of Handoff since the start of its soft launch. “For the Halloween party we just had, I used Handoff to order wine and I’m sure I’ll use them a few more times before the end of the year, including a “Friendsgiving” celebration (a Thanksgiving for office friends) I’m planning for the end of November.” Ian Oakes, another Denver resident, relies on Handoff for smaller orders. A bourbon drinker, Oakes orders individual bottles of Maker’s Mark from Handoff. “I haven’t visited a liquor store in four months,” said Oakes. “Just as we all take pizza delivery for granted, I think we’re all going to take alcohol delivery for granted too.”
While orders can be placed through a smartphone app and chat service, customers appear to be most excited about the company’s speech-empowered ordering capabilities. In fact, Handoff, the first voice-powered local liquor delivery service in the U.S., is part of a booming voice assistant tech industry, a market expected to reach $40 billion in annual sales within three years. Handoff’s liquor-ordering is the latest of more than 100,000 “Skills” on Alexa. Skills are third party apps that add new abilities to the world’s most popular voice command platform. “This is the year and this is the season to launch our exciting service and our platform in the voice tech industry. In fact, we tell customers that we’re so excited we’re almost speechless…almost!” said Riley, his pun clearly intended. “If you have Alexa or Google Home for the holidays this year, you can use your device to go voice shopping, play holiday music, learn how to stuff a turkey, and now, with our help, you can tell Alexa to bring you spiked eggnog, Mistletoe Martini, or other festive holiday beverage to make sure the party lives on.
After a successful holiday season in Denver and Boulder, the Handoff team will introduce its conversational liquor-ordering service to residents in Colorado Springs, Fort Collins and other large cities in Colorado before moving onto the largest US cities in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York.
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