Workers returning to liquor stores to boost online sales

By TAYLOR BROWN

tbrown@yourmvi.com

Pennsylvania residents will be able to buy alcohol online more easily beginning this weekend.

The state Liquor Control Board said Thursday it will fill e-commerce orders from 49 facilities across Pennsylvania and has increased the number of orders it is accepting on a daily basis at finewineandgoodspirits.com.

Board Chairman Tim Holden said stores and service centers have been increasing operations over the past week.

“After ramping up 46 additional Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores and licensee service centers in the last few days and aiming to have 121 fulfillment centers picking and packing e-commerce orders this weekend, we’ve made significant progress in improving service to Pennsylvania consumers seeking access to wines and spirits,” Holden said.

On Thursday, the PLCB accepted 6,500 orders through the website, an 850% increase since April 1 when limited e-commerce sales resumed.

As order fulfillment capacity increases, the PLCB will continue increasing the number of orders it takes each day.

In the next few weeks, Holden said the PLCB expects to be able to accept 10,000 or more orders daily.

E-commerce sales in 2018-19 totaled about 39,000 orders for a total cost of $5 million.

Holden said the PLCB expects e-commerce sales to exceed those annual records as early as next week, just counting sales since April 1.

Sales this month are at $2,187,580, which included 117,680 bottles and 23,038 orders.

All PLCB locations remain closed to the public and are using limited staff to fulfill e-commerce orders.

Today, 26 more fulfillment facilities will be added, with the balance of the 121 total locations expected to be operational this weekend.

Eighteen of those are in Allegheny County, one will open in Washington County and three in Westmoreland County.

Access to the website continues to be randomized to avoid overwhelming the site with high traffic, prevent order abuse and prolong access throughout the day so order availability is not exhausted in seconds or minutes.

“While consumer interest and site traffic continue to outpace our ability to process orders, we ask consumers’ patience as we explore options to serve our customers while honoring public health guidance during this unprecedented disruption,” Holden said. “We believe that continuing to expand access to finewineandgoodspirits.com in a controlled manner will allow us to provide access to consumers while also protecting our employees and consumers from unnecessary risk, but we acknowledge our website can’t handle the daily volume our network of nearly 600 stores supported.”

Online orders are limited to up to six bottles per transaction from a reduced catalogue of top-selling wines and spirits. All orders must be shipped to homes or non-store addresses.

Only one order per address will be fulfilled each day.

All fulfillment facilities are implementing public health practices to protect employees, including enhanced facility sanitation, social distancing protocols and limiting the numbers of employees working in any facility at a time.

The PLCB is not considering reopening stores at this time, Holden said.

Residents can also purchase alcohol at 1,000 licensed producers including wineries and breweries, take-out service from local restaurants and bars, some grocery stores and gas stations and beer distributors.