Cheers To Amazon: E-Commerce Giant Applies For Liquor License

Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN is entering the liquor business, well sort of. The e-commerce giant has applied for a liquor license for its drive-through grocery store in Seattle, with two more rumored to open in Silicon Valley.

Amazon’s latest venture streamlines the shopping experience, allowing customers to place their orders online and then pick them up in a specific 15-minute to two-hour window. The 9,700 square-foot building is a secretive project; it has been called the “new model of grocery shopping.”

While the application doesn’t list the name of the store, the filing for the license on Feb. 7 lists Amazon as the proprietor.

“They’ve designed this facility so that it’s super efficient, so they’re going to be more competitive on costs and labor. I bet you can put in an order and have it in 30 minutes the way it’s arranged,” said Roger Davidson, a retail food consultant with Oakton Advisory Group.

Related Link: Amazon's Latest Brick-And-Mortar Store Will Change Retail Forever

Amazon’s latest project is not to be confused with Amazon Go, the company’s brick and mortar grocery store with no checkout lines. The company’s foray into the drive through grocery business is the latest battle with competitor Wal-Mart Stores Inc WMT, which beat Amazon to the punch in the drive grocery pick up business, opening a site in Bentonville, Arkansas, in 2014.

Beer makers are hoping that one of the world's biggest corporations entrance into the liquor business will be a boon for lagging sales, which saw an overall sales decrease 0.2 percent in 2015.

Craft beer will undoubtedly see a boost, as it likely will be a preferred option for the retailer. Craft beer held 12.2 percent of the U.S. beer market, and contains a more “hip” clientele likely to adopt this new technology.