On-demand alcohol delivery services and risky drinking

The face of retail, food and beverage sectors is changing and significantly disrupting traditional service delivery models. As part of this, a number of on-demand alcohol delivery services have emerged.

Companies such as Jimmy Brings, Dan Murphy’s and UberEats can now deliver within two hours of placing an order, making alcohol products more accessible than ever before.

To better understand their impact, VicHealth asked over 1600 Victorians about their use of on-demand services. It showed that 1 in 10 Victorians use on-demand services and these users are more likely to be men, aged 25-44 and living in metropolitan Melbourne.

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1. People who use on-demand services are more likely to report very risky drinking.

2. Frequency of very risky drinking increases the more often on-demand services are used.

3. The more frequently on-demand services are used, the more likely people are to experience harm after drinking.

4. There are issues with responsible service of alcohol compliance, including lack of ID checks and service to intoxicated people.

Definitions

Very risky drinking = people who drink 11+ standard alcoholic drinks in one sitting weekly, or more often

Weekly service users = people who use on-demand alcohol delivery services weekly, or more often

Research findings

1. People who use on-demand services are more likely to report very risky drinking

People who use on-demand services are more likely to report very risky drinking, compared to non-users.

• Almost a quarter (23%) of on-demand users are very risky drinkers. In contrast, 1 in 10 (11%) non-users report very risky drinking.

• Even after accounting for higher rates of non-drinking among people who haven’t used on-demand services, very risky drinking is still more common among on-demand users.

2. Frequency of very risky drinking increases the more often on-demand services are used

The more frequently a person uses an on-demand service, the more likely they are to be very risky drinkers.

• 1 in 4 (25%) on-demand service users purchased alcohol on a weekly basis. A third (37%) purchased monthly, with a similar proportion (38%) purchasing alcohol products less frequently.

• Almost three quarters (70%) of weekly service users are very risky drinkers.

Over a quarter of respondents have sourced alcohol using Airtasker, which can be requested 24 hours a day, and 95% had consumed 11+ in a single sitting at least once in the last year. Only 1% used AirTasker exclusively.

3. The more frequently on-demand services are used, the more likely people are to experience harm after drinking

People who use on-demand services are more likely to experience alcohol harm than non-users. For many, the last time they experienced memory loss or injury they had sourced alcohol from an on-demand service.

• 1 in 4 (24%) of non-users experienced memory loss while drinking in the last 12 months. In contrast, 48% of on-demand users were unable to remember what they had been doing while drinking and this jumps to a staggering 88% of weekly users. 

   

• Of those on-demand users who had experienced memory loss from consuming alcohol products, one in three (36%) had been drinking alcohol sourced from an on-demand service the last time this occurred.
   

• The more often a person used an on-demand service, the more likely they were to report memory loss. For instance, of the weekly service users who reported memory loss due to alcohol, 57% stated that they had purchased alcohol from an on-demand service the last time this had happened. 

   

• 1 in 10 (11%) on-demand users had been injured, or had injured someone else, due to their drinking at least once during the last 12 months. A further 14% reported this had occurred prior to the last year.

   

• On the last occasion this occurred, 48% of people involved in injury fuelled by alcohol had been drinking alcohol supplied by an on-demand service.
• This was as high as 76% for weekly service users who had experienced injury fuelled by alcohol.

4. Issues with responsible service of alcohol compliance, including lack of ID checks and service to intoxicated people

It is common for alcohol to be delivered to people who are already drunk/intoxicated.

• Over a quarter (28%) of on-demand users had been drunk/intoxicated when receiving their order on all, most or some occasions. This was as high as 71% for weekly service users. After excluding AirTasker users, 20% of weekly service users still reported regularly receiving orders when intoxicated.  

• Of those who had received orders while intoxicated/drunk, most (69%) were still given their order on all, most or some occasions. This included 61% of weekly service users.

In addition, delivery agents do not always check ID on delivery, meaning that alcohol could be purchased and/or received by those under 18.

• A third of people (33%) received an order without their ID being checked, including a quarter (24%) of people aged 18-24.

• Fifteen per cent had deliveries accepted by someone else, and 1 in 10 (9%) had deliveries left unattended. This limits the ability of delivery agents to assess whether the purchaser was underage or already intoxicated. 

• After accounting for AirTasker use, 31% still reported that they had received an order without their ID being checked, 10% had their order collected by someone else and 6% had their order left unattended.

For some people, on-demand services enabled them to keep drinking when they would otherwise have to stop. Worryingly this was the case for the majority of people who experienced the most harm from alcohol – weekly service users.

• 40% reported that on some, most or all occasions they would have had to stop drinking if not for the availability of the on-demand service. This increased to 77% for weekly service users.

• 46% agreed that on-demand services encouraged people to drink more than they would if the service was unavailable. One in five (20%) disagreed. Agreement was higher for weekly service users (54%).

About the survey

The survey was conducted in two parts using an accredited research panel. The first wave of data collection, in field for one week beginning 2 April 2020, provided a representative sample to indicate an estimate of the incidence of on-demand alcohol delivery users among the Victorian population. The total sample for this was n=1004. This included n=110 on-demand service users.

The second wave of data collection was conducted from 9 April 2020 for eight days, specifically targeting on-demand users. There were n=654 respondents for this part of the survey. The results from the data collection were compiled to form two distinct groups, users (n=764) and non-users (n=894).

Both users and non-users were asked questions covering:

• alcohol consumption and purchasing

• use of on-demand services

• alcohol harms including memory loss and injury

• age, gender and income.

Users were also asked questions about:

• intoxication when receiving an order

• whether they had personally received their order and had their ID checked.

Questions were framed so that respondents would consider drinking behaviour and use of on-demand services over the previous 12 months, rather than focusing specifically on the period affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

Other than where it has been stated, the results focus on people who had reported consuming alcohol in the last 12 months. Among users, there were six people who reported not consuming alcohol at any time in the year prior to the survey.

Note: responses have been rounded and may appear to be slightly less or more than 100%.