Selling alcohol online — whether you’re a bottle shop with a webstore, a brewery selling direct, or a restaurant adding beer to delivery orders — is fully licensable. The rules are the same Licensing Act 2003 as a pub, with two twists: where the sale legally happens, and how you verify age at a doorstep you never see.
Where does an online sale take place?
Legally, the sale of alcohol happens where the alcohol is appropriated to the contract — in plain English, where your stock is picked and set aside for that order. That location needs the premises licence: your shop, warehouse, brewery or dark store. Your website doesn’t need a licence; your dispatch point does. If you fulfil from multiple sites, each needs authorisation.
What your premises licence needs to say
- Off-sales authorisation (“consumption off the premises”).
- Licensed hours that cover when orders are processed/picked — the standard view is that despatch, not the customer’s click, must fall within licensed hours. A midnight order picked at 9am is fine.
- No condition prohibiting deliveries — some licences carry old conditions worth checking before you launch.
Age verification: the part that gets operators in trouble
At the point of order
An 18+ checkbox alone is weak. Better: date-of-birth capture, card-payment (not a silver bullet), and clear 18+ messaging through checkout.
At the doorstep — this is the one that counts
It is an offence to deliver alcohol to a person under 18. Your courier is your last line of defence: Challenge 25 at the door, ID scan or visual check, no leaving alcohol “safe-placed” with a minor, and a no-ID-no-delivery policy with re-delivery or refund. If you use third-party couriers, get their age-verification policy in writing — the licence at risk is yours. Train your own drivers with the same rigour as bar staff (our AUASP course covers refusal skills).
Marketplaces, Deliveroo and dark kitchens
- Restaurant + delivery platform: the sale is typically yours, from your licensed premises — the platform is agent. Your hours and conditions apply.
- Marketplace models where the platform sells: the platform needs licensing at its fulfilment points; check contracts carefully.
- Dark stores/rapid grocery: each fulfilment site needs its own premises licence and DPS.
Buying stock: the AWRS check
Every wholesaler you buy from must be registered under HMRC’s Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme — buying from an unregistered wholesaler is a criminal offence. Check the URN on HMRC’s lookup. Full explainer in our AWRS guide.
Frequently asked questions
Can I sell alcohol online without any physical premises?
No — somewhere, physical stock is picked and despatched, and that place needs the licence. “Virtual” alcohol brands license their 3PL/fulfilment site or use a licensed fulfilment partner.
Do subscription wine clubs need anything special?
Same rules: licensed dispatch point, age checks at signup and delivery. Recurring billing changes nothing.
What about shipping to Scotland?
Sales despatched from England under an English licence to Scottish addresses are generally treated under the law of the despatch point, but Scottish minimum unit pricing applies to sales in Scotland — take advice if you fulfil from Scotland.
Launching an online drinks offer? We can licence your fulfilment site and qualify your DPS with the online APLH.
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