7-Eleven has taken a major 51 percent stake in an Australian alcohol delivery startup Tipple – but won’t be selling booze in it’s 670 stores anytime soon.
Alcoholic Slurpees could be on the cards in the future for the corner convenience store giants but the alcohol distributor will operate separately for now.
The private company, owned by the Withers and Barlow family believe Tipple’s business model and platform is well-aligned with their interests, and has grown significantly since starting up less than three years ago.
7-Eleven has taken a major 51 percent stake in Australian alcohol delivery startup Tipple – but won’t be selling booze in it’s 670 stores anytime soon
Digital innovation has been at the forefront of 7-Eleven since it’s Fuel App launched in the marketplace to meet the needs of consumers in digital, delivery and in-store services.
7-Eleven Chief Executive, Angus McKay said: ‘While in time there may be interesting opportunities for the two businesses to explore and work together serving convenience customers, for now this partnership is about bringing our customer insights and marketing expertise to help accelerate the growth and expansion of Tipple as a standalone business.’
The major backing has been welcomed by Tipple’s CEO and founder, Ryan Barrington who will remain in his position.
Mr Barington said: ‘We couldn’t be happier to be preparing for the next phase of Tipple’s growth alongside 7-Eleven,’

The major backing has been welcomed with open arms by Tipple’s CEO and founder, Ryan Barrington who will remain in his position
‘Their expertise and capabilities are unparalleled, but it’s our shared ambition to create new and engaging customer experiences on the cutting edge of convenience that excites us most.
‘We’re very excited about the potential for this partnership to transform the landscape of both alcohol and convenience retailing in Australia,’ said Barrington.
Mr Barrington told Smart Company: ‘We built everything in-house, and we’ve lived through every situation. We started with our own bottle shop, built the tech for that, and then the tech and our business model evolved when we started using independent bottle shops around the country for our roll-out strategy,’

Tipple was established in 2015 and services Melbourne and Sydney suburbs, promising to deliver cold alcohol to people within a 30 minute radius
‘We were the retailer, then the wholesaler, now we’re the end-to-end package.’
Tipple was established in 2015 and services Melbourne and Sydney suburbs, promising to deliver cold alcohol to people within a 30 minute radius.
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7-Eleven has been rebuilding their image since a under-payment scandal was revealed three-years-ago