Stateways

StateWays - November/December 2016

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

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StateWays | www.stateways.com | November/December 2016 18 to retail liquor licensees in the state, replacing an archaic order- ing system, which relied on telephone and fax, with a web-based portal offering 24/7 access. Designed to be an Amazon-like easy shopping experience, LOOP gives licensees visibility into prod- uct availability, sales and promotions so they can more easily plan purchases around discounts. Additionally, LOOP offers customizable tools and reports that can help licensees manage their business, with every order tracked via email. "When we envisioned this new way of entering orders, we said internally we wanted this to be intuitive and easy," says CIO Nick Melnick. "Today the rate of increase is on a steady upward ascent - orders, dollars, cases, all measurements - which is precisely what we hoped for." With so many licensees, it will take some time to get all on board, but 1,000 were using the program by late summer. How successful is LOOP? Between July 2015 and June 2016, licensees placed nearly 20,000 orders totaling $21.4 million. The number of licensees using the system grew 267 percent, while the number of orders grew nearly 300 percent. The PLCB brought in licensees of various types of opera- tions to get involved in the process, says director of supply chain Glenn Zearfoss. "We wanted to get feedback to make sure it would be user-friendly and look like any standard website. They were critical to nail down functionality to include subtle things that make ordering easier, both in form and function." Getting help from licensees was crucial, as the PLCB was replacing a system renowned for its complicated nature - the user manual was 32 pages, for instance, and fewer than 100 licensees employed it. LOOP also offers additional convenience to higher-volume licensees through direct delivery. Before implementation, the state shipped to retail outlets or service centers, where licensees picked up their orders. "It was a layer of complexity without value," Zearfoss says. Finally, LOOP positioned the PLCB to be ready for state-ap- proved grocery wine sales. "It would have been a tremendous burden if we didn't have a streamlined process in place as hun- dreds of grocery stores come online," says Elizabeth Brassell, director of communications. (Grocers began selling wine in the state in August). ADDING A PLUS While LOOP was designed to ease ordering, PLCB+ came online as a way for the Offi ce of Regulatory Affairs to mod- ernize its licensing operations. Another 24/7 online plat- form, PLCB+, made licensing and permitting secure, quick and simple over the Internet, replacing multiple systems and converting nearly 70 paper processes into electronic submis- sions. The system aims to reduce processing time and pro- vide enhanced customer service through its 24/7 access and real-time status updates. "We had an antique legacy system (actually seven different systems) that needed to communicate to make things work," says director of regulatory affairs Jerry Waters. "About three OVERALL WINNER — PENNSYLVANIA LIQUOR CONTROL BOARD More than 100 stores were rebranded during the prior fiscal year. "When we envisioned this new way of entering orders, we said internally we wanted this to be intuitive and easy." —Nick Melnick, CIO

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