StateWays is the only magazine exclusively covering the control state system within the beverage alcohol industry, with annual updates from liquor control commissions and alcohol control boards and yearly fiscal reporting from control jurisdictions
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/73857
store managers to feel more confident. "Before, stores were hoarding product because managers were afraid they'd run out," said Wasserstein, "but if you're con- fident that you know how much you need, you'll be OK with having only three bottles." And it has reduced the ISLD need to transfer product between stores to meet customer demand, a costly and ineffi- cient practice. The ISLD has also begun working with a supplier, Diageo, working as its consultant about the shelf sets in its stores. "Shortly after I got here, we asked all the sup- pliers for [category-management] plans for our stores," said Anderson. "We were looking for processes that lead to data-driven decisions. Diageo had a comprehensive plan." In the summer of 2011, the ISLD "let Diageo run with their plan" for merchandising the stores. Diageo recommended different plans for different "clusters" of stores, stores that shared the same demographics. "The stores now fit their communities better," explained Wasserstein. Added Anderson, "We now own the plan and all the decisions are ours. And we have plenty of validation from the other supplier reps about what we are doing." All the new data provided by ISLD's technology "has really made a difference in how we purchase," said Kay Bennett, manager of education, procurement & dis- tribution. "The suppliers have information to make decisions." (The ISLD uses a bailment system.) Anderson also changed the way ISLD lists products. "About a month after I arrived, I experienced my first listing meeting," said Anderson, "and it was painful." At the time, the ISLD had one formal listing meeting a year. It lasted for three days and each supplier, some of whom had flown in from across the country, had 15 min- utes to present their new products. "And they knew, going in, that we were only going to take a dozen out of the hundreds presented," said Anderson. He and his staff came up with an alternative, called QuikList. Every month for nine months of the year, suppliers can introduce the ISLD to new prod- ucts. [The ISLD suspends QuikList during the busy holiday season, though it has an additional, more for- mal listing meeting in October, for upcoming season- al products.] "If they submit a new product by the 1st of the month, we decide by the 15th and it can be in the stores the month after that," said Anderson. "We want to know information: how the product is doing on- premise, what kinds of marketing is being done nationally, how it's doing in current markets, what its competitors are, what its complements are. A smaller group makes the decisions, with the director having the final say." The QuikList meetings are individual, StateWays s www.stateways.com s July/August 2012 private meetings that suppliers can have their in-state broker and reps handle. The ISLD continues to modernize, particularly to gather and use information more efficiently using tech- nology. Last year, it set up a system for licensees to order online. Suppliers can also log in, online, to access infor- mation about their products and how they are selling in Idaho. And the ISLD is working on a new consumer website for its stores, to be called mixblendenjoy.com. Customers will be able to access it from their homes and also from touchscreen kiosks in the stores. "We have a director and deputy directors with a lot of years in the private sector, bringing a fresh perspective, along with people with a lot of experience at the divi- sion," said Faraca. "We all work well together, managing the division like a 21st century retail business." SW 19