On top of that, liquor retail is intensely seasonal. Christmas, New Year's Eve, Easter, long weekends and footy finals can lift card volume sharply for short windows, then drop back. Add growing click-and-collect and same-day delivery, where the card is not present and pricing is typically higher, and a bottle shop's blended cost of acceptance can shift week to week far more than a steady, fixed-ticket retailer would ever experience.
Why liquor stores fees sit where they do
The range is wide because a bottle shop's blend swings with basket size. Days dominated by small taps carry proportionally more fixed per-transaction cost, nudging the effective percentage up, while big wine-case and spirits sales spread fixed costs across a larger amount and pull it down. Card-not-present click-and-collect and delivery orders usually sit at the higher end. Your actual blended rate reflects this mix plus your pricing model, average ticket and the share of premium card types presented.
What to look for in a provider
Look for a provider that handles both ends of your ticket spread well and can cope with short, sharp volume spikes without flagging festive trading as unusual. If you run click-and-collect or delivery, you will want card-not-present acceptance and an online gateway alongside the in-store terminal, so reconcile both channels in one place. Reliable connectivity and fast tap-and-go matter on a busy NYE queue. Compare how percentage versus fixed components fall on a $300 case against a single bottle, since that mix drives your real cost more than any single advertised rate.