Alcohol Delivery Merchant Account: Payment Processing Guide

Most alcohol sellers are not choosing one universal solution. They are choosing between operating models. A liquor store with heavy in-store volume needs something different from a winery shipping club orders, and both differ from a restaurant adding alcohol delivery. The right setup depends on whether your business is mostly card-present, mostly DTC ecommerce, or a hybrid of in-store, pickup, and delivery.

For most alcohol businesses, the right answer is not the lowest visible rate or the easiest checkout demo. It is the stack that supports the actual sales model, from age-gated ordering through delivery or pickup confirmation to final reconciliation.

Alcohol merchants need reporting for all of the following transaction types: authorizations, captures, refunds, failed transactions, and recurring charges (if relevant to their industry). For companies that deliver their alcohol or sell directly to their consumers, it would also be useful for the merchant to see those transactions correlated to the order status for those products.

This is what transforms a payment processor into an alcohol payment solution. The best payment processor for alcohol vendors will offer reporting that is easy to explain to underwriters, easy to reconcile for books of sale and finance departments, and easy to manage in relation to compliance and customer service needs. Account stability is a product of better operations.

Depending on your priorities, one provider may be the best fit for your business over the others.

• Payment Nerds is best for alcohol sellers looking for a flexible merchant account that supports age-restricted checkouts, fraud controls, and in-person and online sales.
• AccelPay is best for brands that manufacture and sell beverages and alcohol, as it offers compliant distribution, payments, payouts, and reconciliation.
• Vinoshipper is best for wineries, distilleries, and cideries looking for a solution that helps them comply with alcohol regulations and sell their products directly to consumers.
• Commerce7 is paired with the right alcohol-friendly processor for wineries and sellers who want a complete commerce solution that includes a POS system, CRM, club features, and age-gating controls.

Keep in mind, these are recommendations based on what each company is best known for. Some offer the best merchant account for alcohol sellers, others offer the best alcohol commerce solution, and others offer the best winery-focused DTC platform for selling wine and other alcoholic beverages. The right solution for you will depend on whether you have store locations, delivery locations, or offer direct sales to consumers via your ecommerce website.

First, figure out your selling model. If you’re a shop that only does in-store sales, you have a different requirement than if you’re a winery that ships out orders to clubs of loyal customers. Both of those models are going to be different from a restaurant that’s adding alcohol delivery to its existing orders.

Think about your age check process, your method of handing products over to customers, and how you’ll document that process when selecting your merchant account provider. Then look at the issues that plague merchants later on in the selling process.

Most alcohol payment processing companies will give you a custom price based on your business. The cost will depend on the type of alcohol business you run and the type of sales you process. For instance, the cost for a bar that processes most of its sales in person will differ from that of a winery that ships its wine to customers.

The best question to ask about cost is: How much will it cost to operate your business with this payment processing company? This includes transaction fees, payment gateway fees, fraud and chargeback fees, sales that did not convert to recurring billing, time spent reconciling your sales, and any issues the payment processor may have with your sales volume. Even if the upstart costs more money, it could be the better deal for your business.

The most common mistake is treating alcohol like ordinary retail. This typically results in a checkout that processes the payment but leaves out the compliance and handoff aspects of the order. The merchant will receive the order, but not necessarily the compliance with age checks and deliveries.

Another common mistake is separating the payment from the fulfillment and verification of the order. If there is no integration between the age check, order fulfillment, delivery, and settlement, the merchant is creating unnecessary risk. Finally, merchants often make the mistake of choosing a payment processor first, only to find out the processor is uncomfortable with online alcohol sales or deliveries.