Perform an alcohol-delivery compliance check before dispatching a delivery, including jurisdiction validation and age verification handoff

In-depth guide

Steps

1. Maintain a lookup of jurisdictions where alcohol delivery is legally permitted, including any quantity or category restrictions (e.g., beer/wine only, spirits prohibited, maximum volume per order)
2. At order placement, validate the customer's dropoff address against the jurisdiction ruleset; block the order and surface a clear error if alcohol delivery is not permitted to that address
3. Require the customer to confirm their age (typically 21+ in the US) during checkout and record their stated date of birth or age confirmation in your system; pass this information in the delivery request payload as required by the courier API
4. Include all alcoholic items in the order manifest with accurate quantities and descriptions; set the alcohol item flag or category field in the delivery API payload so the courier is alerted to perform ID verification at the door
5. Configure your failed-delivery workflow: if the courier cannot complete age verification (customer absent, ID not presented, or customer underage), the items must be returned — implement a return-to-origin flow and notify the customer
6. Retain records of age confirmation events and delivery outcomes for compliance audit purposes; consult legal counsel on jurisdiction-specific record retention requirements