A drop in usage of rideshare apps unsurprisingly coincided with the coronavirus outbreak and lockdowns that began in March 2020.

Zooming out, a decrease of 17% is not too drastic, especially considering that 17% is the percent change from a peak in March at 41% to January 2021. But, the data does not yet indicate any sign of a comeback.

As Uber prepares to disclose its Q4 2020 earnings, CivicScience looked at its ventures into  delivering more than just people.

As expected, U.S. consumers report getting food delivered through apps like Grubhub and Uber Eats significantly more than this time last year. Nearly one-quarter say they get food delivered at some frequency. 

Experience with Uber Eats specifically shows 23% of U.S. adults have used it with an additional 11% intending to try. While intent was higher two years ago, usage was significantly lower.

Uber recently announced its acquisition of Drizly, an alcohol delivery service that made some news earlier on during the pandemic. Uber Eats will soon incorporate Drizly services into its app, as well as run and manage the Drizly app separately. Americans over 21 say they are likely to try getting alcohol delivered through Uber Eats at an 18% rate.

Alcohol delivery services in general (like Winc, Minibar, CraftShack, etc.) already have a usage rate of 9%. Intent to use is also at 9%, so it’s clear that getting drinks to your doorstep is a growing market.

The people most interested in getting libations delivered through Uber Eats are already heavy food delivery app users. More than half of respondents over 21 who get food delivered on a monthly (or more frequent) cadence are likely to try alcohol delivery through Uber Eats.

Income data indicate that alcohol delivery is a more popular trend among affluent households, so naturally interest in Uber Eats’ alcohol delivery service follows a similar pattern. What stands out in the charts below is that intent to order booze to your door is fairly even across income brackets. 

Current alcohol delivery services are exclusive and fairly obscure to the average consumer. With a name like Uber stepping into the competition, CivicScience predicts an uptick in usage and general normalization of alcohol delivery in the near future.