How can I add an age verification step at checkout for my online alcohol store?

[awh_aus]

We're an Australian producer selling alcohol online, and need to be able to have some form of age verification upon checkout in accordance with Australian liquor licensing laws. I'm only able to find age verification pop-up apps for an out-of-the-box solution, which will not work in this case — we already have one of these, and the law states that a prospective purchaser is required to supply the purchaser’s date of birth at the time at which the agreement for sale is made (ie, upon checkout).

Is anyone able to direct me to a solution for implementing a date of birth requirement at checkout, that will not allow the purchaser to continue if they are over 18? I've implemented a similar thing on wordpress sites, but no luck at all for Shopify.

Thanks in advance!

[Nick]

Hi @awh_aus,

Nick here from Shopify. 

Shopify has a guide for how to add age verification to your store which you can see here. This can only be added to checkout but only if you are on the Shopify Plus plan though. You can read more about the checkout.liquid file and how it can be edited here. 

There is a potential workaround and I'm wondering if it works. Would adding it to the cart page be enough for you in this instance? It would be one step before the checkout and act as a checkbox of sorts. You can see more about what I mean from the help guide Shopify has for this here. You could also change the wording from “Agree to the terms and conditions" to "I confirm I am over the age of 18" or along these lines. 

If neither of the above options is viable for you, your best bet would be to use an app from the Shopify App Store, which I know you mentioned about in your post also. 

Could it be worth reaching out to a professional/ lawyer to double-check and make sure that it would be ok to ave the age verification somewhere other than the checkout just to be sure also? 

Hopefully, this helps in any way!

All the best, Nick

[kbonner]

Can this be applied for customers in specific states? So that way it will only ask customers in states that require age verification, and not all customers?

[Nick]

Hi @kbonner,

Good question. For this, it could be worth reaching out and asking the app developer directly. You can reach them directly with the email address here - hello@crucialcommerceapps.com 

[TGFBS]

This age gate does not seem specific to the checkout process. Is that right? Is there an age gate yet that can operate on Shopify's checkout process? This is also a requirement of Google by the way. Cheers, Dave

[TheRightDrop]

Hi @Nick coming a bit late to this.

We also need to add this age verification to our website, and it really needs to be added at checkout so that the customers age is recorded in the order details. 

Your response nearly 3 years ago was to either upgrade to Shopify Plus in order to install this change, or use an age verification app. Has there been any progress in Shopify policy in this time? 

My business is not yet big enough to justify $2000 USD per month so I can be legally compliant. It would be cheaper to close my business. An age verification app is not robust enough or offer the detail saving option required.

If you added the option to tip to the checkout (which is not really applicable in Australia), can you also add an extra field where customers can enter their DOB?

[DTC798]

Can this data be stored along with the purchase data upon checkout? 

We are looking to implement a similar workaround for an age-restricted business.

But to be FDA compliant, age-restricted businesses need to not only verify but store age data. 

No age-verification Apps on the Shopify App Store satisfy the FDA requirements. 

People pay for solutions...to still be out of compliance because Shopify only offers these features to Shopify Plus clients, which is cost-prohibitive for small businesses. 

Is there a fix in the works that Shopify is working on? 

[JackyNikson]

Hello!
If they are over 18? May be under 18?
Do you have examples of such implementations? No matter whether it's a Shopify, WordPress or Magento website.
And may you give a link of your website.

Best,
Katarina.

[Nick]

Hi @JackyNikson,

I wouldn't be able to share any specific store examples for privacy and security reasons, but If you did want to take a look at some of my favorite apps from the Shopify App store for age verification, you can see some of them below:

• Age Verification
• Age Check + Age Verification 
• Age check w/ Age verifier

Each app has the same basic concept of age verification but might have smaller differences with other aspects then also. 

[darrine]

Hi there -

I realize I'm a little late to this post but just wanted to mention that a version of Token of Trust for Shopify is in the works that can help here. While we do more than just age verification, for this offering we're specifically focused on helping to ensure that vendors with age restricted products (alcohol, tobacco, wine, e-cig, vape, supplements, etc) have the means to comply with the law and keep restricted products from getting into the hands of minors. The product works internationally, implements electronic age verification on checkout with fall back to collecting photo ID and selfie when there are problems with digital verification for vendors that want stronger defensibility. We understand that the user experience is critical and work hard to get it right - especially for repeat customers. Last but not least, we ensure you have what you need should the authorities come knocking. 

Please do reach out to me (darrin@tokenoftrust.com) or support@tokenoftrust.com and mention that you saw us here if this sounds interesting!

Thanks!

-Darrin

[Giinc]

I'm interested in this app, but I don't see it in the Shopify App Store yet, ETA? Thank you for working on this!

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@darrine wrote:

Hi there -

I realize I'm a little late to this post but just wanted to mention that a version of Token of Trust for Shopify is in the works that can help here. While we do more than just age verification, for this offering we're specifically focused on helping to ensure that vendors with age restricted products (alcohol, tobacco, wine, e-cig, vape, supplements, etc) have the means to comply with the law and keep restricted products from getting into the hands of minors. The product works internationally, implements electronic age verification on checkout with fall back to collecting photo ID and selfie when there are problems with digital verification for vendors that want stronger defensibility. We understand that the user experience is critical and work hard to get it right - especially for repeat customers. Last but not least, we ensure you have what you need should the authorities come knocking. 

Please do reach out to me (darrin@tokenoftrust.com) or support@tokenoftrust.com and mention that you saw us here if this sounds interesting!

Thanks!

-Darrin

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[darrine]

Thanks so much for the interest! It’s coming along really nicely. We love Shopify’s integration layer! We anticipate a January release will go to Shopify for app approval. We hear that Shopify App approval can take some 6 weeks so we’ve started accepting applications now for those that want to try it while it’s in private beta. f you’re interested write us at support@tokenoftrust.com and let us know you’re interested in the Shopify Beta!

For those that have immediate need we have a standalone version of the product that some of our Shopify customers use it today with good success and we can get people up and running quickly on that. Lastly, if you’re wondering what others have said of us - check out "Token of Trust” on Capterra and the Wordpress plugin marketplace.

[Giinc]

Excellent! I'll check back in a couple months. Thank you! Can you provide the link or app name for the standalone version of the product that some of your Shopify customers use today? I don't see anything in the store under "Token of Trust"

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@darrine wrote:
Thanks so much for the interest! It’s coming along really nicely. We love Shopify’s integration layer! We anticipate a January release will go to Shopify for app approval. We hear that Shopify App approval can take some 6 weeks so we’ve started accepting applications now for those that want to try it while it’s in private beta. f you’re interested write us at support@tokenoftrust.com and let us know you’re interested in the Shopify Beta!

For those that have immediate need we have a standalone version of the product that some of our Shopify customers use it today with good success and we can get people up and running quickly on that. Lastly, if you’re wondering what others have said of us - check out "Token of Trust” on Capterra and the Wordpress plugin marketplace.

---

[Suncat]

Hi @Giinc ,

Just wondering if you were able to find a solution for the age check at check out for Shopify?

Sam

[darrine]

Hey Sam -

Yes, the plugin about 80% of the way there and at this point there are two options: 1) sign up for the beta which is coming soon, or 2) in the meantime we do have a version of the product that can be used today and puts you on the priority list for the beta rollout. The 2nd option is not yet fully integrated but it’s easy to use, cuts down massively (80%+) on manual labor for the backend team related to collection, storage and compliance. Beyond this some of our customers use it to combat fraud on Shopify. We realize that’s not as sexy but it does get the job done, it’s a bit less expensive and gives you full control of the process. If your volume is < 100 orders per day it’s something that your backend staff can easily pickup today.

Definitely drop us a line if you’d like to chat or see a demo.

Best,
-Darrin (darrin.edelman@tokenoftrust.com)

[Steve500]

Hi awh aus,

This is actually possible with this Shopify app here: https://apps.shopify.com/age-verification-4

That app will allow you to select a specific collection to show the age verification pop up on.

Steve

[TheRightDrop]

Hey @awh_aus did you finally solve/resolve this?

[Thuisbier]

There is a workaround to accomplish this at checkout.
1. Require the buyer to enter a company name at te checkout page.
2. Change the text from "company name" to ''date of birth'' in that field. (you can change it at Theme content)

That's all, hope this helps

[Astrid10922]

Hi Thuisbier

Great sugestion how ever the only issue is the fact it is formated for wording. So a customer still can just type a few words and not even a birth date for it to approve. Unfortunately Licensing still will not approve this format unles you physically have to put in a birth date and have that input also captured and recorded. And Shopifys answer seems to be to just upgrade to plus which is not achievable for small businesses. Sadly it is getting to the point where we are going to have to go to the horrid process of swapping to a different website platform as they are not very small business friendly. And the other sugestion is to buy an app which to do everything licensing is asking is also on a costly monthly plan. Very frustrating. 

[Appiers]

Hi there,
You can easily add age verification popup without messing up with the theme using Agefence's age verification popup.
It will come with a price of latte but it'll save you tons. and it has unlimited design customizations.
Just try out with 5 day free trial - https://apps.shopify.com/agefence
Learn more at https://appiers.com/agefence

[dylanpierce]

Just want to give an updated answer, because Shopify Checkout Extensibility has made the current answer stale.

In the future, you won't be able to modify checkout.liquid, Shopify has replaced this with app blocks that you can drag and drop into your checkout page within your theme.

It's extremely simple, and we've build an app block that verifies government issued IDs such as drivers licenses, passports and/or national IDs (including AU and NZ).

Here's a short video that shows how to set it up on your store: 

And here's a link to our documentation on this Checkout Extension to learn more: https://getverdict.com/help/docs/flows/shopify-checkout-app-blocks

Yes, the app can apply your minimum age restrictions, and it can be white labeled to fit your theme.

If you have any questions, please just let me know! Happy to help.