Sell Alcohol with Square Online
If you’re selling physical or prepared food and beverage items online, you may sell alcohol with Square Online if permitted by law in your area.
Note: Review the Square Terms of Service for more details on what you can sell through Square.
Before You Begin
Before you start selling alcohol online, do some research to find out what is and isn't permitted in your area. There may be additional licensing requirements or other restrictions related to selling alcohol online. If you have more questions, your local chamber of commerce may be able to help out.
Create an Alcoholic Item
To start selling alcohol online with Square, you must first indicate which items in your Item Library contain alcohol. This could be a prepared cocktail from a bar that's set up for pickup, local delivery, or QR code ordering, or a non-perishable item like bottled wine set up for shipping.
To add an item that contains alcohol:
From your Square Item Library, select an existing item or create a new one.
Under Fulfillment, set up your online fulfillment methods for the item and toggle on Item contains alcohol.
Select Save when finished.
For additional online item features, check out how to manage Square Online item settings from your Item Library.
Alcohol Sales with On-Demand Delivery
Take a look at the steps for setting up On-Demand Delivery with alcohol.
Note: On-Demand Delivery of alcohol is only available via DoorDash.
On-Demand Delivery of alcohol is only available via DoorDash in the following states:
- Arizona
- California
- Connecticut
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawai’i
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oregon
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Virginia
- Washington
If you have On-Demand Delivery enabled for Square Online, you may deliver items that contain alcohol. To set up alcohol with On-Demand Delivery:
- From your Account & Settings page, go to Fulfillment > Pickup & Delivery.
- Select Edit by the location you want to set up alcohol for.
- Go to the Delivery tab and be sure you’ve selected On-Demand Delivery.
- Indicate that you plan to deliver alcohol. Your customers will have to present ID to accept orders that include alcohol.
- Complete all other settings and select Save when finished.
Once alcohol is enabled for On-Demand Delivery, be sure you’ve indicated which of your items include alcohol to complete the setup.
Note: On-Demand Delivery of alcohol is only available via DoorDash at this time. For orders that contain alcohol, the stock levels for all items in the order are decremented at the time of successful age verification (and not at the time of successful payment).
If an adult age 21 or older isn’t home, or if ID verification can’t be completed, On-Demand Delivery couriers will return orders that contain alcohol to the pickup location. A $3.50 return delivery fee will be charged to you (which you can choose to pass on to customers). You can then issue a refund or contact the customer to arrange a pickup.
To charge customers a restocking fee for failed alcohol deliveries:
- From your Account & Settings page, go to Fulfillment > Pickup & Delivery.
- Select Advanced settings.
- Toggle on Restocking fee to charge customers the $3.50 restocking fee for failed alcohol deliveries.
- Select Save when finished.
You can cancel an order that contains alcohol from the Order Manager in both your Square POS and Square Dashboard.
Note: At this time, you can only cancel an entire order (not individual items) that contains alcohol and has been pre-authorized. Pre-authorized means that the order is pending payment.
To cancel a pre-authorized Square Online order that contains alcohol from Square POS:
- From your Square Point of Sale, go to ≡ More > Orders.
- Select the order you’d like to cancel.
- Select Cancel Order.
To cancel a pre-authorized Square Online order that contains alcohol from Square Dashboard:
- From your Square Order Manager, select the order you’d like to cancel.
- Select Actions > Cancel Order.
Alcohol Sales with In-House Delivery
While Square Online does offer an In-House Delivery option for local delivery, the legal requirements for delivery of alcoholic beverages vary from one area to another. Unlike using On-Demand Delivery, with In-House Delivery, it is solely your responsibility to be aware of and comply with any local and national rules and regulations related to the delivery of alcohol. Learn more about In-House Delivery with Square Online.
Alcohol Sales with In-Store and Curbside Pickup
You may offer in-store and curbside pickup for online sales of alcoholic beverages in accordance with your local laws and regulations. Learn more about in-store and curbside pickup with Square Online.
Alcohol Sales with QR Code Ordering
Note: Enable QR code ordering by upgrading your Square Online subscription.
If you have QR code ordering enabled for Square Online, you may serve items that contain alcohol after a customer orders from their table or chair. To set up alcohol with QR code ordering:
From your Square Online Overview page, go to Fulfillment > QR code ordering.
Select Edit by the location you want to set up alcohol for.
Edit the Alcohol settings.
Toggle on whether you intend to serve alcohol, and set an optional maximum quantity of alcoholic items that can be placed per order.
Select Save when finished.
Once alcohol is enabled for QR code ordering, be sure you've indicated which of your items include alcohol to complete the setup.
Age Verification for Online Sales
Although you can add age verification pop-ups to your website, Square Online does not have a legally compliant age verification feature. It is your responsibility to verify the legal age of your buyers when selling alcohol for in-store and curbside pickup, In-House Delivery, or QR code ordering.
When selling alcohol using On-Demand Delivery, the On-Demand Delivery courier will manage the age verification upon delivery.
Disclaimer: Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice. Consult an attorney if you have questions about the sale and distribution of alcohol.