Skip to content

Online Shopping and... Alcohol? How to Buy Beer for Your Gift Baskets Online

Kym Toner|
The modern era is all about convenience. It used to be you had to travel into town or the closest store to get what you need. But nowadays, you can get just about anything you need to be delivered straight to your front door: groceries, electronics, home goods, and just about anything else you could need.  The same can be said for beer. Sure, you can always stop by your closest convenience store and pick up some Budweiser and the like, but what if you want something that's a bit harder to find? Shopping online can allow you a much wider range of options.  Is buying beer online safe? If you're new to the idea of buying your brew online, you may not be sure exactly what to expect. Read on and we'll walk you through everything you need to know about how to buy beer online. 

Benefits Of Buying Beer Online

More and more people are turning to online outlets to get their beer of choice. Why has the internet become a go-to choice for beer shopping? The many benefits are hard to argue with. 

Greater Selection To Choose From

For one, the selection of beers available online is far greater than that at any brick-and-mortar store. This is especially true if you love craft beer, as many brand name superstores don't carry many craft varieties.  Many, in fact, don't carry craft beer at all. 

Trying to find somewhere local in your area that has the beer you want can be time-consuming and potentially impossible. But if you check online, all it usually takes is a few quick keystrokes before you've found exactly what you are looking for. 

Even if you're not exactly sure what you want, the range of options online gives you a much wider area to explore. If you're sick of the same old beer you've been picking up with your eggs and milk for the last ten years, the internet can offer a wide open door. 

You Can't Beat The Freshness

When you go to a brand name superstore, you're buying beer that was purchased in bulk, likely in quantities in the thousands. These stores fill the shelves and keep surplus beer in the back until more is needed. 

That means the beer you might from your local store could be weeks old. 

You don't run into this problem as often when you order from online retailers. Most online retailers order from suppliers as their own orders come in, meaning the beer that arrives at your front door is as fresh as it could possibly be. 

Convenience

When you order beer online, it means that beer is literally being shipped right to your front door. That means instead of traveling from grocery store to grocery store trying to find your favorite brew, you can be getting work done or watching TV as your beer comes to you. 

You won't even have to put pants on to get beer in hand, though you might want to just to spare your delivery man the embarrassment. 

Staying Safe When Buying Online

If you're not accustomed to buying beer online, you may be a little uncertain about how the process works, and whether or not it's safe. The short answer is that buying beer online is incredibly safe, as long as you know what you're doing. 

There are a few things you should keep an eye out for when shopping for beer online.  

Only Buy From Reputable Sources

There's a wide variety of great sellers of beer and alcohol online. But just like with anything, there are also some shady and less than stellar sellers who might not provide you with the best or safest customer experience. 

So before you pull your credit card out, you'll want to make sure that the beer retailer you're planning to buy from is reputable and legitimate. 

Look around their website and look out for comments from previous customers. If they don't host these on their own website, look elsewhere around the web for reviews. Reading feedback from customers can help get you a sense of what to expect from a retailer. As long as a good majority of the comments seem positive, you should feel more confident in going with this particular seller. 

You can find such reviews in a variety of places online. Google and Reddit are popular sources for reviews. You can also look through social media, on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. If you want to do some extra detective work, you can browse through popular beer blogs and see if the retailer you're exploring is mentioned or recommended. 

Keep An Eye Out For Unsafe Websites 

If there's a major threat when it comes to purchasing beer online, it's keeping your data safe. If you want to protect your credit card info, name, and address, you'll need to ensure your buying from a retailer that has proper protection set up. 

That means the retailer in question needs to be running an SSL Certificate on their website. An SSL Certificate ensures that all the data you enter into the site will be encrypted and protected from all outside sources. 

How can you tell if a retailer's website is running such a certificate? Take a close look at the address bar of your web browser. Most browsers will display an image of a lock or the phrase 'secured' when you land on a page with an SSL Certificate. If you don't see any such image, it might mean that the website you are on is unsafe for your data. 

Last but not least, trust your gut sense. If a retailer seems off or sketchy, there might be something amiss even if you can't put your finger on it. Consider looking elsewhere for the beer you want. 

How To Buy Beer Online

Understanding how to buy beer online can help to save you time and money. There's nothing better than getting the beer you love delivered right to your front door. 

Have more questions about the process? Give us a call anytime for assistance. 

Back to blog