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Online Age Verification for CBD & Vape Products

Akash
August 19, 2019 |

The growth of the CBD Industry is evident, and it is no secret that CBD is one of the fastest-growing industries in the North America. With Canada legalizing the sale of medicinal marijuana, and two-thirds of US states giving the green light, industry sales have been exponential ever since.

From $3.4 billion in global legal sales in 2014 to nearly $11 billion in sales by the end of 2018, this shows how the trend and trade is quickly catching up together. BDS Analytics and Arcview Market Research projects that CBD sales in the US alone will surpass $20 billion by 2024. Now that’s a number one cannot simply ignore.

While CBD stats are spiking, the amount of sales from eCommerce is no less – $517 billion worth online sales happened in 2018, which is a 15% rise from the year prior.

CBD Online Store

In today’s day and age, if someone is looking to sell products online, it is frequently via Amazon, eBay, Alibaba, or from paid ads on social media. But the same is not the case with CBD products, as the above platforms still have not accepted selling CBD related items in their platforms.

So, what does a CBD company do?

CBD companies have to think out of the box to advertise and sell their products within USA. Establishing their eCommerce or a brick and mortar store is a must to sell the products legally.

Considering the spurge of online shopping, setting up a CBD online store looks like a safe bet. Firstly, you need to find an agency and a platform (suiting your business needs) to build a best-in-class online store for your company.

Next, your store needs the right integrations done – Age Verification and Payment Gateways are crucial get points in any CBD Online Store as they pave the way for sales to happen. In spite of their importance, CBD Store Owners are finding it difficult to integrate Online Age Verification and Payment Gateway due to various legal tussles.

In this blog, let’s understand what it takes to successfully setup Online Age Verification for buying CBD and Vape Products.

CBD Online Age Verification

It is not authorized under the law to sell Vape and CBD products to citizens below the age of 21 in the United States, and the age limit differs based on provinces in Canada.

In this obscurity of the web, how does one know who is on the other side buying the products? How can CBD and Vape companies overcome this?

Verifying the shopper’s age on a website is hard, but the excellent news is that it is also possible, thanks to the advancement of technology.

With the help of third-party integration apps, age verification, or any other spec can be achieved on a typical website. Whereas when it comes to an eCommerce site, that too a CBD online store, makes it complicated as the need is there to write custom modules or apps to integrate such services.

It is important that the online store should comply with the FDA regulations:

  • There should be health warnings in the online store
  • The online store must have received marketing authorization from the FDA
  • Also, selling of cannabis to any person under the age of 21 is a criminal offence and punishable by law.

It is essential that online store owners be vary of the above points, and choose an agency who have a sound knowledge of setting up a CBD Online Store.

Form Verification

CBD companies must pick the right age verification service, which complies with all the laws in the USA, and also keep in mind if it suits the business requirements. If choosing seems like a task, integrating it is even more so.

There are multiple ways to integrate services to verify the age of the person, such as iframe, API, and image upload. One of the most popular and prominent verification procedures is ‘Form Verification’ using API.

How Form Verification Works?

Online Stores can collect the details from the billing address of the customer when they place an order, and then the same can be cross-checked if the buyer is above the legal age ascertained by the Federal Government.

This way, CBD companies can keep a check and feel secure that their products are not going into the hands of the underaged.

Apart from form verification, Image Verification is also another process which can be given a try. However, it is more arduous than Form Verification and needs more work to be done.

Image Verification

Some of the Age Verification services also provide us with Image Verification. Once the integration is done, the customer can upload their ID. The ID can later be reviewed in the backend to assess the age of the customer.

After the screening is over, the order can/cannot be processed depending on the validity. Merchants usually require fewer efforts to maintain with regards to Image Verification.

The best part is, none of these services permanently store the data of the customer, and they will be erased within a specific period of time. There are no compromises on the security part!


DCKAP has a deep understanding of the CBD industry, and have been instrumental in setting up world class eCommerce Platforms and online stores for 100+ brands across the globe from over a decade.

From understanding the CBD market and building an excellent online store to enhance your online sales, DCKAP does it all. Want to build an exclusive online store, or need any specific integration? Explore our complete CBD services, and get in touch with us right away!

Akash

Akash is Content Writer at DCKAP. He loves weaving words to create stories and sentences. Hangs out reading poetry and non-fiction novellas on tales which are often heard and told in the mainstream. He is also a theater artist who loves teaching kids.

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