Drivers often fail to verify ids while delivering age-restricted products, warns new research

Work done by brick-and-mortar retailers over the years is getting undermined as a recent report states that more than half of online buyers don’t get asked for identification while receiving the delivery of age-restricted products through rapid delivery services.

According to a research by independent retail compliance auditor Serve Legal, only less than half (45 per cent) of mystery shoppers were asked for identification when receiving the delivery of age-restricted products through rapid delivery services.

For the research, more than 2,600 young mystery shoppers from Serve Legal made test purchases using online or app-based rapid delivery services over the last 12 months. The research states that only 45 per cent of these shoppers were asked to show proof of age when their order was delivered, despite it containing alcohol, cigarettes and other age-restricted products.

Warning that the failure to ask for identification could undermine the work done by retailers, director at Serve Legal, Ed Heaver, said that retailers may have age identification measures like screening checks and facial recognition on their websites or apps, but “these are toothless if delivery drivers are failing to ask for physical proof of age or are leaving goods unattended on the doorstep”.

“Bricks and mortar retailers have been working hard for the last ten years to improve their performance around underage sales, with initiatives like Challenge 25, committing to regular testing programmes and improving staff and management training. It’s time that more online retailers and their delivery partners did the same, particularly in the rapid delivery market where pressure to deliver orders as quickly as possible may be compromising diligence around age checks.”