You can sell alcohol online, but there are a lot of rules and regulations to consider. This article will discuss the legal requirements for selling alcohol on your website, as well as the permits and licenses you’ll need in order to create an ecommerce platform that can sell liquor.
We’ll also go over how ecommerce order fulfillment services can help with different types of alcoholic beverages such as wine fulfillment or beer shipment.
The licences needed to sell alcohol online in the UK
The sale of alcohol on the internet requires both a personal licence and a premises licence. To sell alcohol online, you’ll need a personal licence through the Alcohol Online Retailers Association. The premises license can be obtained from your local council and you’ll need to apply for these before applying for any other permits or licenses.
Obtaining a personal licence to sell alcohol
A personal licence can be obtained through the Alcohol Online Retailers Association, which is an industry body that regulates alcohol retailing online. You’ll need to apply for a premises license from your local council before applying for any other permits or licenses.
If you own a Personal Licence, you may legally sell alcohol on behalf of any business including online as long as the company has premises license. The owner of a personal licence must authorise anyone without license to sell alcohol by giving them permission.
The process to get a personal licence involves two steps:
Step 1: To obtain a personal license, applicants will need to take a short training course and attain an appropriate qualification, For example, the Award for Personal Licence Holders.
Step 2: Apply for a personal licence from the licensing department of your local authority/council using this form. (If you are under the age of 18 or have a criminal conviction, you will not be eligible to sell alcohol online.).
Obtaining an alcohol licence (or premises licence)
You will need a premises licence from your local council, in compliance with The Licensing Act 2003. Any fixed commercial property where alcohol is being handled and dispatched needs a licence – the premises can include warehouses, storage facilities as well as shop floors.
All businesses selling alcohol (except some clubs and designated community premises) must have an appointed Designated Premises Supervisor that has been nominated by the premises license holder- this includes companies who operate sites which sell alcohol. The person in this role must hold a personal license, as well as be nominated for it by the licence holder.
It’s unlikely that you’ll be able to get a permit to sell alcohol online from your own home as authorities are hesitant to do this. However, there may be an outbuilding on your property that could create alcoholic sales with the proper permission.
Aside from a licence, you will need to submit floor plans detailing where alcohol-related stock will be stored and handled.
To complete the application, applicants need to describe how they’ll comply with the four licensing objectives (Prevention of crime and disorder, Prevention of public nuisance).
Licence Fees
When applying for an alcohol licence, it’s good to know the rateable value of your business premises, as your application fees will be dependent upon this.
Make sure you’ll be prepared for annual licensing fees charged by your authority, which will enable you to renew your licenses each year.
UK law guidelines
It’s not enough to just be compliant with the law – you must also monitor your compliance at all times. The key legislation you’ll want to keep an eye on is ensuring under-18’s aren’t able to purchase alcohol from your business.
Your website must declare that it is for adults and you will need to establish an “over 18” declaration before proceeding with a purchase. You might also need to verify an individual’s ID when delivering a package containing alcohol.
Please check with your local authority for more information about the requirements you’ll need to make before you’re allowed to sell alcohol online.
Selling Alcohol Online
Once you’ve established your legal requirements, it’s time to create an online store for your alcohol.
The best way to launch an online alcohol sales business is with a fully-functional ecommerce platform. You won’t need any coding experience so don’t worry!
Before listing your alcohol online, you’ll need to know which ecommerce platforms allow it.
Square Online provides a way for businesses to open an alcohol online shop and sell it through the platform. However, these sales are subject to local laws where they’re available. For more information on selling alcohol online with Square Online, please look at their support page for more information.
The credit card processor that you use will determine what types of products are prohibited. For instance, Stripe prohibits the sale of alcohol, while PayPal and ApplePay do not. Alcohol falls under prohibited items on Shopify Payments, but sales can be made if you use a different payment provider. This means that your store won’t have to pay any Shopify additional processing fees.
Order Fulfillment Services
You can use a fulfillment company to handle the shipping & delivery of alcohol on your behalf, which can be an expensive service. However, if you plan on selling in excess of £250k per year then it could prove beneficial as they offer discounted shipping rates and can often help with returns too.
If you can’t afford to use a fulfillment company then it’s still possible for your business to deliver alcohol by following these steps:
- Find out which permits and licenses are necessary in order to do so.
- Prepare packaging, ensuring that the correct labels meet UK law guidelines.
- Create an account with Royal Mail or Parcelforce so that you can ship your business’ alcohol to customers.
- Select a courier service, which can be used for delivery and tracking of goods in transit.
- Communicate the shipping costs with potential customers before they select their preferred bottle size or product type.
