Logo
BusinessBusiness

Amazon’s new booze delivery service had a little trouble getting out of bed on its first day.

The Seattle-based Web giant said Thursday it is rolling out on-demand delivery of beer, wine and spirits for its Prime Now customers in Manhattan.

According to a release, Amazon’s mobile app-based Prime Now service will offer one-hour alcohol deliveries from local stores from 6 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week.

But when a reviewer got up at 6 a.m. to order a six-pack of Stella Artois (and a can of Boddington’s Pale Ale to meet the minimum $15 delivery requirement), the app said the one-hour service was “Unavailable” for his Manhattan ZIP code in the East 70s.

Prime Now said it could deliver the beer between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. for free — in other words, within a window of two to four hours, not within two hours as advertised.

As it turns out, Amazon isn’t really in a position to make good on its promise to deliver booze in an hour.

The Web giant doesn’t have a liquor license in New York City; instead, it has teamed up with local retailers — with different operating hours — to deliver orders on its behalf. Some of those retailers, for instance, don’t open until 10 a.m.

This means it’s up to first-time users to read the “fine print” — or look up the retailers’ individual hours within Amazon’s app — to figure out how fast they can get their booze delivered.

CEO Jeff Bezos can’t afford to slip on a launch like this. He’s elbowing into a crowded market for booze delivery apps in New York, which already include Minibar, Thirstie and Swill.

Amazon’s supposed two-hour delivery is free. For customers with an emergency who qualify for it (whoever they are, wherever they are), Prime Now’s one-hour deliveries are advertised at $7.99.

Amazon also announced Thursday that Prime Now is launching one-hour delivery of items from Eataly, Mario Batali’s epicurean emporium in the Flatiron District.

Hope Mario wasn’t out too late last night.

Comments
anonymous profile image
Powered by RoundtableBuilt on infrastructure designed for real-time media. Learn more at RTB.io.© Roundtable 2026. By using this site you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy