Selling wine & alcohol on Shopify
Legal, logistics, and growth guidance for US alcohol merchants
Selling wine and alcohol online presents a fascinating blend of unique opportunities and complex challenges.
From navigating intricate compliance regulations across various states to implementing robust age verification processes, there's a lot to consider to ensure your Shopify store operates smoothly and legally in the US. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to establish and manage your direct-to-consumer (DTC) wine, beer, or spirits business on Shopify.
As a Shopify Platinum Partner, Lazer brings extensive experience working with major brands and specialized businesses on the Shopify platform. We understand the nuances involved in alcohol sales, not only in maintaining strict compliance but also in leveraging sophisticated selling models like subscriptions and other personalized experiences. We're here to guide you through not just harnessing Shopify's core functionalities, but also extending and customizing the platform to meet your specific business needs and unlock your full growth potential.
Migration experts
Setting up your Shopify store for alcohol sales
The US beverage alcohol market faces strict regulatory oversight that varies significantly by state and creates a complex patchwork of requirements for online sellers. Shopify offers specific tools for wine producers and retailers selling in the US market, with features designed to handle the unique requirements of alcohol sales.
Essential apps and integrations
Here are some of the specialized Shopify apps you should consider for your alcohol store upfront.
- DRINKS ASSURE: Real-time tax and compliance integration directly into Shopify checkout, with pre-configured compliance rules and tax calculations.
- AccelPay: Compliant DTC alcohol fulfillment to 42+ states through a retail network, handling routing complexities and legal requirements.
- WineShipping: Scalable fulfillment solutions for wine shipping, with real-time tracking number and inventory syncs, and support for collateral, packaging, subscriptions, and temperature control.
Implementing and maintaining alcohol compliance
To be licensed as a direct-to-consumer (DTC) seller, you must meet specific requirements including using approved common carriers, obtaining appropriate state licenses for the types of alcohol you’re selling, and paying taxes in destination states.
Different states have varying rules about which types of alcoholic beverages can be shipped directly to consumers and in what amounts.
Age verification systems
Age verification best practices on Shopify include:
- Age gates on store entry to verify the user is over 21 (available through third-party apps)
- Verification checkboxes in the shopping cart (also available through apps or customizable on Shopify Plus)
You can also explore custom options to place orders on hold for admin review when the check is failed, and storing checked ages so that repeat customers don’t have to repeat the verification every time they order. Making sure the process is easy for your admin to manage in Shopify is key, as well as ensuring it's a smooth and painless user experience for your customers.
License and permit management
Alcohol sellers must obtain various permits based on:
- The states they ship to
- The types of alcohol sold (wine, spirits, beer)
- The business classification (producer, retailer, etc.)
Shopify integrates with industry-leading compliance apps such as DRINKS ASSURE and Sovos ShipCompliant. These apps automate many aspects of compliance, including:
- Using the license information you have to track what states you can ship and sell to.
- Blocking sales to states or zip codes where the merchant lacks the necessary permits and displaying state-specific warning.
- Keeping records and generating reports that can be used for license renewals and regulatory audits.
Handling the complexities of alcohol taxation
Alcohol taxes are complex and multi-layered, including state excise taxes, local sales taxes, and special alcohol-specific fees (like Colorado's Wine Development Fee).
Natively integrated with Shopify, DRINKS ASSURE is designed to handle the complexities of alcohol taxation and regulation in the United States for simpler business models. Features include:
- Real-time calculation and collection of all applicable taxes and fees — including excise taxes, alcohol-specific taxes, CRV (container recycling value), and more — directly within the Shopify checkout.
- Ensures that the correct taxes are automatically applied based on the customer’s shipping address and the type of alcohol product being sold.
- Includes hundreds of pre-configured compliance rules that are automatically updated as tax rates and regulations change, so merchants don’t need to manually track and implement frequent changes in state and local alcohol tax laws.
- Generates detailed reports for state tax filings, including aggregate volume by state, sales summaries, credits, and returns.
DRINKS ASSURE also works with Shopify POS, ensuring that both online and in-person alcohol sales are taxed and reported correctly.
Other options include integrating tax solution providers like Avalara or exploring custom workflows for specialized tax needs, such as splitting taxes across the entities involved in your business, like wineries for a subscription wine service. And Lazer can help you with any integrations or custom needs in Shopify!
Preparing alcohol shipping and fulfillment strategies
Whether you’re establishing your shipping and fulfillment on Shopify or migrating it to the platform, the system for alcohol shipments can be intricate. If you want to set up highly efficient operations and that there’s no interruption as you port your logic over, Lazer is the perfect partner.
Carrier requirements and restrictions
Shopify integrates directly with major carriers like UPS and FedEx, both of which are authorized to ship alcohol under strict conditions for licensed businesses. Merchants can connect these carrier accounts to Shopify admin or use third-party shipping apps to display carrier-calculated rates at checkout.
Shopify supports specialized apps such as PH Multi-Carrier Shipping Label by PluginHive, which is designed to automate label processing, calculate shipping rates, and ensure compliance with alcohol shipping regulations. You can mark products as containing alcohol in the app, enable required signatures upon delivery to meet state requirements, and generate and print compliant shipping labels.
State shipping restrictions
DTC shipping regulations for alcohol differ dramatically across states, though the majority restrict direct shipping to wine. Merchants can restrict orders to only eligible states and zip codes using Shopify’s tools and custom apps, saving them from manual process and allowing them to scale. They can also manage volume limits, which vary state by state and can apply per order or per period of time.
- Check out Avalara’s DTC wine shipping map and the National Conference of State Legislature’s Direct Shipment of Alcohol State Statutes to see state-by-state breakdowns of these regulations.
Native Shopify features and apps
In Shopify admin, you can edit shipping settings to exclude states from your shipping zone, so customers in these areas can’t complete purchases.
You can also create separate shipping profiles for different product categories, such as alcohol and non-alcoholic products, but it could result in multiple shipping charges if a customer orders from both profiles in one cart.
Supported Shopify apps can allow merchants to restrict orders by zip codes, state, or region.
Specialized solutions like DRINKS Assure Pro/Enterprise offer advanced features such as shipping eligibility by state, setting up state lists, and enforcing dry zip code bans directly from the app dashboard. The app can prevent checkout or hold orders if a customer’s address is in a prohibited zip code or if volume limits are exceeded.
Third-party and custom apps
Merchants can also consider using product metafields to restrict certain products to states or zip codes through the ZIP lock app or another eligible app.
Larger-scale alcohol businesses may create multiple business entities and assign different products to different businesses to get around state volume issues. The DRINKS app can’t support this level of complexity, and it would take a lot of work to build a custom Shopify app that does — which is where a Platinum Partner like Lazer comes in.
Custom apps or extensions can also help enforce:
- Volume limits per state and tracking how much inventory each customer has received over the applicable time period.
- Real-time validation of shipping addresses at checkout, blocking orders from ineligible locations.
- Order cancellation flows that trigger when shipping regulations or compliance checks fail.
- Edge cases such as differences between the address on the customer account and the one entered at checkout.
Deploying alcohol subscriptions or memberships
Subscription services like wine clubs or spirit-of-the-month programs have become a popular way to deepen customer engagement, but require specific implementation approaches to maintain additional compliance such as:
- Recurring age verification processes
- Managing state-specific limitations on subscription services
- Handling failed deliveries and re-routing
Shopify offers a subscription solution with its Shopify Subscriptions app, which is a great fit for simple, recurring product sales with basic management and discounting directly from the Shopify admin. They don’t natively support highly customized subscription flows, such as build-a-box, prepaid subscriptions, or complex bundling. For advanced subscription models, deeper customization, or sophisticated promotions, you can supplement with third-party apps like Recharge, or invest in custom development to build on Shopify’s subscription reference app with your own complex subscription logic.
With its available native and third-party apps, Shopify seamlessly powers subscription services without any of the heavy lifting. Merchants can customize compliance settings or pair them with other apps to ensure they are meeting requirements on a recurring and state-by-state basis, especially to handle edge cases around subscription billing and shipping based on changing compliance or tax requirements.
Online wine shop Wine Insiders migrated to Shopify to take full advantage of the apps in the Shopify ecosystem, scaling and automating a subscription strategy that included personalized email, SMS, customer surveys, and post-purchase campaigns.
Designing omnichannel customer experiences
Customers are looking for a consistent experience in every interaction with your brand, and alcohol buyers are no different.
Thankfully Shopify POS has tools to manage inventory and orders across online stores, tasting rooms, and retail locations on a single platform.
Features of Shopify POS include:
- Syncs inventory in real time between online stores and physical locations.
- Consolidates customer data from both online and in-person transactions into unified profiles, allowing for personalization, loyalty tracking, and advanced marketing.
- Supports features like buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS), and ship-to-customer from any location.
This can enable building further connections between online and in-store experiences through integrated loyalty programs, event invitations, and personalized recommendations based on unified purchase history.
Implementing personalized features and promotions
Here’s how you can implement more advanced wine and alcohol features on Shopify:
- Taste profile quizzes: Use product quiz apps to create interactive quizzes that recommend products based on customer preferences (e.g., flavor, body, sweetness). Quizzes can collect leads, segment customers, and display personalized wine or spirits suggestions as results.
- Curated collections: Create curated collections by grouping products (like “Summer Rosé Picks” or “Award-Winning Reds”). Collections can be featured on your homepage or in navigation for easy discovery.
- Expert recommendations: Advanced recommendation apps use AI to analyze browsing and purchase history, offering tailored suggestions and dynamic upselling which you can display as a “Sommelier’s Choice” or “Recommended for You” section.
- Badges for top products: Add badges (e.g., “Top Rated,” “Best Seller”) by tagging products in Shopify and modifying your theme code to display badges based on tags — no app required. This draws attention to high-quality or popular products and can be customized for awards or ratings.
You can also create compliant promotional strategies such as:
- Case discounts: Use Shopify’s discount features or apps to apply discounts when customers purchase a case (e.g., 12 bottles), ensuring only eligible products receive the discount. Create collections for discountable items and set minimum purchase requirements.
- Exclusive releases: Tag loyal customers and use apps or custom code to grant access to exclusive products or collections. Password-protect collections or require customer login with specific tags for access.
- Bundled shipping: Use bundling apps to create product bundles with free or discounted shipping. Configure offers to comply with alcohol shipping laws and ensure they’re only to eligible states or regions.
- Gift cards compliant with alcohol gifting laws: Shopify supports digital gift cards. Clearly state in your terms that gift cards can only be redeemed by customers of legal drinking age and for delivery to eligible addresses.
To expand market reach, use Shopify’s sales channel integrations or third-party feed apps to connect your product catalog with platforms like Wine Searcher, Google Shopping, and Vivino.
These integrations syndicate your inventory, boost product visibility, and can drive additional orders from wine-focused audiences.
Let’s build your alcohol business on Shopify
The journey to successfully selling alcohol on Shopify is complex, demanding a keen understanding of the intricate regulations while simultaneously crafting an exceptional customer experience.
It needs to be crafted for the nuances of the alcohol industry while fully harnessing the platform’s extensive infrastructure and ecosystem.
At Lazer, we don't just offer tools and knowledge; we offer an end-to-end partnership built on extensive experience as a Shopify Platinum Partner. We've guided numerous brands, including those in the alcohol sector, through strategizing, architecting, replatforming, design, and development. We can help you unlock the full potential of your wine or alcohol brand so you can create a successful and growing business.
