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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Promoting from Within Control state liquor agencies, though often limited by laws and rules, do their best to make their customers' shopping trips pleasant, informative and efficient. C By Cheryl Ursin ontrol state agencies involved in the retail sale of beverage alcohol in their states, the ones that run their own stores or supervise liquor agents, face hurdles that other retailers just don't. Most often, a con- trol state agency doesn't get to pick what products it will put on sale, if it can even have sales. Instead, most agen- cies can only pass along a discounted price on a product, if the supplier decides to offer one. Even with these spe- cials, some agencies can't advertise – or even, in some cases, use the word "sale" on signs and price tags in their stores. Often, agencies are limited in the size of floor dis- plays they or the brands' reps can build in stores and the signage they can use on them. And until very recently, it was illegal to open a bottle of product in a store in some states – so, on-site tastings were out of the question. Control state agencies face these restrictions because, unlike ordinary retailers, they are government agencies whose retail operations fulfill a triple role: they provide access to beverage-alcohol products for legal consumers but they also keep that access under control, to prevent underage drinking and alcohol abuse, even while they are generating revenue for their states. Still, control state liquor agencies, both large and small, with state stores, agencies or a combination of both, find ways to present their customer/citizens with the most pleasant and productive shopping experience possible. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) is, with 621 state stores, the largest control state agency in the country. And it has begun using information gleaned from its new $25-million enterprise resource planning (ERP) system for "promotion optimization," which means having only the best, most productive, most con- sumer-friendly sales and specials in its stores. B Too Much of a Good Thing efore, the PLCB had so many products on sale – in some cases, over 900 different items at a time – that "we had an overwhelming number of yellow [sale] tags in the stores. People joked that we should just tag the items not on sale," said Lars Kegerreis, executive assistant to Jim Short, the PLCB's director of marketing. "We would accept [the discounts] submitted by sup- pliers and pass the savings onto our customers," said Short, "but we found that the sales items were often can- nibalizing each other." By analyzing its sales using its ERP system, the PLCB has discovered that if it reduces the number of items it has on sale and times those sales care- fully, its customers will actually buy more and save more. At the New Hampshire state stores, displays highlight "Outlet Power Buys," which offer deep discounts, and "Signature Selections," which draw in customers. 12 StateWays s www.stateways.com s November/December 2011