If you sell age-restricted items like alcohol, tobacco products, or fireworks, it's your responsibility to prevent underage sales. Selling to an underage buyer can expose you to severe penalties and legal issues. Not only that, but it impacts your brand reputation and the industry as a whole.
So, how can you prevent underage sales while still catering to your loyal shoppers? In this blog, we'll tell you how!
Age Verification Issues
Many stores already have so-called "age gates" to prevent underage sales. But in many cases, those barriers have limited efficiency.
Some sites ask for nothing more than a date of birth. What's stopping a young shopper from lying?
In the early days of e-commerce, many sites adopted tactics that no longer work. For example, stores used to limit payment methods to credit cards. However, most card issuers these days make products available to underage customers.
Another tactic was to apply a disclaimer or terms and conditions form. Unfortunately, those don't protect you from the legal ramifications of selling to an underage shopper.
Proper Age Verification
The best way to protect your business is to invest in authentic age verification software.
The best features in age verification software work to validate identities without a shadow of a doubt. It's not hard to find age verification platforms, but you must pay close attention to the quality of service provided.
To cover all your bases, go for a platform that offers full regulatory compliance. It should also take security seriously to protect its customers.
How It Works
Age verification is pretty simple. However, providers approach the task in different ways.
Many will ask for a full legal name, address, date of birth, and government ID number. Some even go so far as requiring a selfie for verification!
Those measures are effective, but they can also turn away customers. Remember: Even legal-aged shoppers must go through the process.
The best features in age verification software simplify the procedure. For example, modern solutions might only require a name and a phone number. Those two bits of information are all the service needs to cross-reference data. It's even helpful in validating that the person providing the information is who they say they are.
Protecting Your Business
It doesn't matter how big or small your e-commerce operation is. If age-restricted items are involved, you need to invest in age verification software. Not only does it protect your business, but it keeps underage shoppers safe.
Read a similar article about electronic identity verification service here at this page. https://we.riseup.net/emily-clarke/advantages-of-electronic-id-verification
