Digital ID: Nearly 1-in-4 Underage Sales Check Still Fail

By Kate Rand, CEO of Serve Legal (www.servelegal.co.uk)

Every day, retailers and hospitality operators carry significant responsibility on their shoulders. Peak trading periods bring welcome footfall, but they also bring complexity. Stores are busy, new staff are learning on the job, and age-restricted sales remain one of the biggest pressure points on the shop floor and behind the bar.

Today, there’s an important development in that conversation: the growing reality of Digital ID.

It’s no longer a theoretical “future tech” discussion. Digital identity is steadily edging into the mainstream, and whether it’s next year or five years from now, it will eventually change how age is verified across UK retail and hospitality.

The question for businesses is simple: Will we shape it, or will it be shaped for us?

What the UK retail and hospitality frontline really looks like

Serve Legal conducts more than 250,000 anonymous compliance audits each year across the full spectrum of age-restricted products and services, from alcohol and e-cigarettes to gambling, entertainment venues, and wider regulatory / venue safety compliance checks. In doing so, we speak directly to the two groups most affected by any shift in policy or technology:
• Young people – customers, but also staff
• Retailers – from national chains to independent shops and operators

Through that lens, we get a very different picture from the one drawn in policy papers or tech presentations.

Young people are incredibly digitally confident. But cautious about Digital ID. Their hesitation is overwhelmingly about privacy. They’re not rejecting Digital ID, they are rejecting unclear, untrusted systems.

Retailers, on the other hand, can see the upside: faster checks, fewer arguments, reduced fraud, better evidence of compliance. But they’re worried about the practicalities. What happens if the system crashes? Who takes the blame if a digital scan fails? Will Trading Standards accept it? Will the police? Will every local authority interpret it the same way?

In short: everyone can see the potential. No one wants to take a blind leap.

Here’s what the numbers tell us
Our exclusive nationwide data points to three core realities:
First, nearly one in four age-restricted product sales still fail a Challenge 25 check. Even in 2024–25, even with better training, better signage and better awareness, too many checks are missed; not because staff don’t care, but because pressure changes behaviour.

Second, in some regions the figures are even more stark: underage alcohol sales remain close to 20% non-compliance, a number that has barely shifted in years. Yet among retailers who adopt regular third-party auditing and channel those insights into staff training and operational controls, we consistently see those rates fall. It’s a pattern clearly reflected across our own client base.

Third and most relevant to the next wave: over 30% of frontline staff report uncertainty about Digital ID procedures. They’re open to it. But they don’t yet trust it. And trust is the foundation of any successful compliance system.

Then comes December, when compliance always falls. In some sectors, by 15–18%. More customers, more queues, more new staff, fewer managers: a perfect storm where instinct replaces process, and the gap between policy and practice is at its widest.

Our recent survey of retailers reinforced what the sector has said privately for years: they are open to Digital ID, but only if the foundations are sound.

Retailers told us they need three guarantees:
1. Interoperability across providers
Every retailer we surveyed said the same thing: they will not install multiple systems or gamble on competing solutions. The government must define a universal framework.
2. Clear regulatory recognition
Businesses want explicit guidance from Trading Standards and licensing bodies confirming that Digital ID is valid, enforceable, and compliant – not an optional add-on. Without it, smaller businesses in particular will sit on the sidelines.
3. Proper staff training and support
Nearly 70% of retailers said staff readiness is a core barrier. Many remember the confusion during early stages of e-cigarette regulation. They do not want a repeat.

Alongside retailers, we surveyed our young auditors to understand how Digital ID might land with the people who will use it most. More than half said they would trust a government-issued Digital ID ahead of any private provider, while a third said they wouldn’t use Digital ID at all under current models. Despite being the most digitally fluent generation, privacy remains their defining concern. Many expressed unease about sharing personal data, particularly if Digital ID were ever to become mandatory.

They were clear about what would improve trust: transparent privacy safeguards, strict proof-only disclosure (a priority for 85% of respondents), the ability to use the ID offline when a phone battery dies, and recovery processes that don’t lock them out of essential services.

What emerged most strongly was their expectation to be involved. Young people want, and deserve, a seat at the design table because Digital ID will be used most often by those under 30. Their concerns aren’t secondary; they are central to getting this right.