Your liquor license. Your store’s reputation. Your bottom line.
This is everything you’re risking if you don’t have adequate safeguards against underage alcohol sales.
Selling alcohol to underage customers can be disastrous for your business, leaving the door open to costly fines, the loss of your liquor license, the closure of your store, and even jail time for you and your team members.
Visually checking customers’ IDs isn’t always enough to prevent it. In fact, some states (including Texas and Utah) have begun requiring electronic age verification for alcohol purchases.
Let’s dive into how to keep your business safe and compliant by investing in the right ID scanner for your liquor store.
Some liquor retailers rely on their cashiers to ask for and visually check customers’ IDs. Of course, you trust your employees — but their eyes aren’t always accurate.
Here are some age verification violations that often slip through manual checks:
Fortunately, an ID scanner eliminates these issues. Instead of just reading a birthdate, liquor store ID scanners cross-reference the encoded data on the barcode or magnetic stripe against the printed information on the card's face. If those two sources don't match, the scan fails.
This means no more mental math, fake ID confusion, or conflicts at the checkout counter over whether an ID is valid or not.
Plus, age verification software and ID scanners create a paper trail, helping you stay prepared for compliance spot checks and audits. If an ABC commissioner stops by asking for information about a sale you made weeks ago, you can pull up the report and prove your compliance in just a few clicks.
Related Read: How To Pass a Liquor Store Audit Without Breaking a Sweat
Once you’ve decided to invest in an ID scanner for your liquor store, you have another choice to make: whether you want a standalone age verification scanner, or a point of sale (POS) system with integrated ID scanning.
A standalone scanner is exactly what it sounds like: a dedicated device that simply scans customers’ IDs and tells you whether they’re of legal drinking age.
POS-integrated scanners, on the other hand, are part of a full liquor store software system. They connect directly to your POS system, which allows you to:
A standalone scanner might be the right fit for new, small beer and wine stores on tight budgets — but most liquor stores could benefit from an upgrade to a POS system with built-in age verification.
Whether you’re looking for a full age verification and POS solution or a standalone ID scanner for your liquor store, we’ve got you covered. Here are our top picks for ID scanners in .
If your current POS system doesn’t integrate with an ID scanner, our advice is to upgrade. Modern POS solutions designed for liquor stores have built-in age verification software, allowing you to scan customer IDs and generate compliance reports to protect your liquor license.
Let’s look at the top three liquor POS providers that offer ID scanner integration:
Not ready to upgrade your liquor store’s tech setup? You can still protect against underage alcohol sales by investing in a standalone ID scanning system. Here are three options to consider:
When it comes to age verification, you’ve got lots of options — but ID scanning is only one tool you need to run a successful liquor store.
Bottle POS includes a full range of features to help you manage inventory, win customers, and stay profitable, including:
See Bottle POS in action by scheduling a live, personalized demo with one of our liquor industry experts today.