DLC Launches Revamped Online Ordering Platform for Businesses

For Immediate Release: Monday, June 4, 2018

The Montgomery County Department of Liquor Control (DLC) has announced the relaunch of iStore, the online ordering platform that businesses within the county use to order beer, wine and spirits. 

While a version of iStore has been used since 2015, this new iteration is a complete overhaul of the previous platform. To make the system more user-friendly, a variety of features have been added; including enhanced search functionality, including filters by category, supplier, and price point; improved product landing pages that now include photos and product descriptions – with sale pricing and quantity discounts clearly marked; and one-click reordering with the ability to add favorites to custom lists.

Additional functionality will be added over the next few months that will allow businesses to appoint sales representatives that can order on their behalf. In addition, the DLC has eliminated a key pain point for its customers, timeout issues will no longer cause sessions to expire prematurely. 

“Supporting our licensee community is extremely important to us,” said Robert Dorfman, director of the DLC. “iStore is now highly intuitive and these updates make it a modern online marketplace. Our goal is to dramatically boost the user-experience of our business customers when they order with us online.”

Over the past few months, the department partnered with various ‘super users’, licensees that were heavy users of the original platform, to gather feedback, test the system, and ensure this newest version of iStore delivers on their needs and wants.

“The DLC has made great changes to the new iStore,” said Shana Baum, general manager and purchasing agent of Talbert’s Ice & Beverage Service in Bethesda. "It’s going to make ordering a whole lot easier. It’s very user friendly.”

In addition to offering an online training video, licensees and sales representatives can sign up for in-person training. For additional information on iStore or to sign up for training, visit the DLC website.

Along with an upgraded iStore, licensees will also see a change in how refusals and returns are handled by the department. To ensure compliance with the Maryland Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Administrative Release No. AB-17, the DLC has clarified its policies surrounding, and allowable reasons for, customer refusals (refusal of product at the time of delivery) and customer returns (return of product after delivery is completed). Click here to view the policies in their entirety.

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Release ID: 18-584
Media Contact: Melissa Davis 240-777-1915