At our store, we have a policy that if there's a group of, say, three college kids, and one is buying alcohol, all three have to show ID and be over 21. Doesn't matter if the orders are separate, if they so much as talk to each other, we have to assume they're together. Do you know if this is a legal thing (I'm in VA), or a Kroger policy? It pisses a LOT of customers off, and so I'm wondering if it's something our competitors do too.
I don't know about "universal" (my division doesn't require it, and neither do any of the other businesses in the area) but its perfectly legal for the company to mandate, and it's not a bad idea, inconvenient tho it might be for the cashier.
Once I had to refuse a sale because of something similar. The customer even reacted immaturely, saying, "But I just spent an entire $40 here don't you trust me now?!" I think I almost threw up whenever she tried to flash.
Kroger didn't used to have a policy, but a couple months ago they got a bunch of complaints and changed it to only requiring another person's ID if the customer says they are buying it for them or if money exchanges hands. Everyone who checks got a memo about it at my store.