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Sell alcohol with Square Online

Who is this article for?
  • Sellers with general item and Square Online permissions. Set permissions in Square Dashboard.
  • Enable QR code ordering with Square Online Plus or Premium.
  • About selling alcohol online

    If you’re selling physical goods or prepared food and beverage items online, you may sell alcohol with Square Online if permitted by law in your area.

    Before you begin

    • Be sure to indicate which of your items in your Item Library contain alcohol. To indicate this for several items at once, learn how to bulk edit items in Square Dashboard.

    • 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.

    • 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 pickup and click and collect, 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.

    • For more details on what you can sell through Square, review the Square Terms of Service.

    Disclaimer: Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice. Consult an attorney if you have questions about the sale and distribution of alcohol.

    Step 1: 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 dispatch.

    To add an item that contains alcohol:

    1. sign in to your Square Dashboard and click Items & orders > Items.

    2. Select an existing item or create a new one.

    3. Under Fulfilment, set up your online fulfilment methods for the item and toggle on Item contains alcohol.

    4. Select Save when finished.

    Step 2: set up alcohol 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.

    Step 3: set up alcohol with in-store pickup and click and collect

    You may offer in-store pickup and click and collect for online sales of alcoholic beverages in accordance with your local laws and regulations. Learn more about in-store and click and collect with Square Online.

    Step 4: set up alcohol with QR code ordering

    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:

    1. sign in to your Square Dashboard and click Sales channels > Online > Fulfilment > QR code ordering.

    2. Select Edit by the location you want to set up alcohol for.

    3. Edit the Alcohol settings.

    4. Toggle on whether you intend to serve alcohol and set an optional maximum quantity of alcoholic items that can be placed per order.

    5. 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.

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