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 licencing 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 collection, local delivery or QR code ordering, or a non-perishable item such as 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 Fulfilment, set up your online fulfilment 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 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 Collection and Click and Collect
You may offer in-store 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.
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 Fulfilment > QR code ordering.
Select Edit for the location you want to set up alcohol.
Edit the Alcohol settings.
Toggle on if 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, make 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 click and collect, In-House Delivery, or QR code ordering.
Disclaimer: nothing in this article constitutes legal advice. Consult a lawyer if you have questions about the sale and distribution of alcohol.