Covid-19 created a stay-at-home environment that prompted U.S. “consumers to minimize public contact and seek “doorstep” convenience for virtually everything, including alcohol,” Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America issued guideline to assist policymakers to meet the needs of today’s marketplace while maintaining public health and safety standards.
Bottom line: Delivery should be localized and licensed. Not shipped across state lines by retailers not licensed where the customer is.
After only one month of sheltering in place, 45 states plus Washington, D.C. expanded alcohol delivery permissions to include on-premise retailers like restaurants. Some states allowed on-premise businesses to offer pre-mixed cocktails in addition to beer, wine and spirits for delivery to consumers and ecommerce platforms like Drizly saw as much as a 400% increase in traffic.
As policymakers start to address this issue, WSWA has developed detailed guidance to help state regulators navigate smart and responsible alcohol regulations. Key features of that guidance are offered below:
Smart and responsible delivery regulations provide consumers with convenience from local retailers within their community. This may include language that stipulates deliveries must be made the “same day” product leaves a local retailer or include specific geographic perimeters.
Smart and responsible delivery regulations only allow for delivery by licensed retailers or licensed third-party delivery partners. Smart regulation should include provisions that ensure licensed retailers can:
- Verify that the recipient of the delivery is of legal drinking age;
- Gather the signature of every legal delivery recipient;
- Consider the totality of the circumstances of the delivery and use reasonable judgement before handing over the product (ex. not complete the delivery if there are minors drinking in the house or the recipient is already intoxicated).
Smart and responsible delivery regulations should provide clear definitions of both alcohol delivery and shipping. WSWA is opposed to the shipment of alcohol across state lines and defines shipping as moving alcohol from an off-premise retail store to a consumer by common carriers such as FedEx, UPS, DHL and GSO. Delivery should be local and licensed.