How Are Alcohol Home Delivery Retailers Verifying Age During Lockdown?
Last month, AgeChecked reported that off-license sales of alcohol online are now worth 22% of all sales. This incredible jump indicates that a lot of retailers are now selling alcohol online with many doing so as a direct result of COVID-19 and lockdown restrictions.
Of course, with an increase in sales online, there must be consideration made to how these retailers are verifying the age of their customers. Are they using software or are they relying on ID checks on delivery? In this blog, AgeChecked explores this new world of online alcohol sales and delivery.
Increase in Home Delivery Services
According to Google, search frequency for the phrase ‘alcohol home delivery’ has increased by 250% in the UK since March. This is not the only key phrase related to home delivery of alcohol with others including ‘booze delivery’ and ‘alcohol delivery near me’ also proving to be popular.
As you can expect, with this many people seeking out these services, new businesses have been popping up all over the UK. While some existing businesses are switching to home delivery, others are being created from scratch in order to make a quick profit.
This isn’t just something that is happening in the UK either, alcohol delivery services are also popping up in the USA. According to reports, around 30% of new customers who have bought alcohol online during the pandemic will remain long-term users. While it might take some time to gather specific stats on how many new businesses have been set-up over this time, the reaction of customers alone indicates that there is a lot of traction in this area.
Verifying Age
With so many new businesses offering alcohol home delivery and just as many customers searching for this kind of service, the question of age verification must be asked. Retailers in the UK must continue to adhere to the laws surrounding who they sell alcohol to. If they are found to be selling alcohol to minors, they face fines and possibly further action.
Interestingly, many online alcohol home delivery retailers in the UK have decided to keep things traditional. Apart from a quick ‘enter your date of birth’ box on their website, there is little to no age verification on their website before the sale is complete. Instead, they are checking IDs of customers on delivery. While this can be effective, the likelihood is that they are relying on third-party delivery companies who they have no control over.
Another popular method of verifying age is through collection in-store. While this can be effective, there is still a risk involved in breaking social distancing guidelines to check the ID of the customer.
Use AgeChecked Age Verification
With there being such a high level of risk involved in alcohol home delivery, proper age verification checks must be made. Retailers hoping to make a quite profit from lockdown must adhere to the law and must not pass the blame to their third-party retailers.
At AgeChecked, our age verification API is effective and easy to use. When you use our service, you are removing any risk of breaking the law and selling alcohol online to minors. Everything can also be done online so there is no need to break social distancing guidelines. If you are interested in getting this set-up online, get in touch with AgeChecked today to find out more.
