Age check in retail.

Tower Systems is proud to serve a number of specialist retail marketplaces. Our software has been developed for these particular markets and is feature-rich for each of their needs. One important part of the software is its age-checking functionality, a feature developed several years ago and continually supported by our expert software support and development teams.

There are stringent regulatory requirements for selling a number of restricted stock items in Australia, where the legal adult age is eighteen.

Cigarettes must be sold to customers over the age of eighteen, certain adult DVD, audio-video and print publications are age-restricted, adult recreational products are age-restricted, some medications cannot be sold to minors and there are several important demands when retailing firearms. Tower Systems has developed its software in strict accordance with these regulatory requirements to help business owners comply and sell their products lawfully. Even a single transgression in this regard can have significant impacts on your business. In addition to the rational and ethical justifications for age-checking, compliance testing is on the increase in Australia. In one 2013 sweep of stores in the Australian Capital Territory, nine out of the twenty-four retail shops tested were punished for selling cigarettes to a minor, who was in fact under the supervision of an officer from the Office of Regulatory Services.

Numerous safeguards are built into our software, preventing untrained or ignorant staff from unwittingly breaking the law. Staff must enter date of birth information for customers purchasing restricted items; the software then calculates whether the customer is eighteen years of age or younger. There is also a field for identification document numbers such as driver license or passport information. This multi-prong approach to authentication reduces the risk of selling restricted product to minors and ensures your business complies with relevant regulations.

Age checking over the counter is a vital process in many retail industries and should be part of any robust retail software package. It is too important to leave to chance. By partnering with Tower Systems you can rest easy that in this – and many other ways – your business is secure in its regulatory obligations.