REthink Wine Blog

Inertia’s 5th Annual Direct Symposium will take place on July 11th, from 9-3:30pm at COPIA in Napa. This year, we’ve expanded our agenda to include interactive sessions on topics chosen by attendees. Last month, we released a survey on what we were hearing from our clients and industry partners as the ‘hottest’ topics in the direct industry. Topics included:

• Website Design
• Website Merchandising
• Selling Direct to Trade 
• Direct Shipping Compliance
• Allocation Program Management 
• Wine Club Management
• Wine Blogging
• Online Social Networks

We asked attendees to ‘vote’ on their topics of choice for breakout sessions at our July Symposium. The results were tallied, and we have our winners… 

• Selling Direct to Trade: Access. Control. Sales. 
• Direct Shipping Compliance: A Dynamic Marketplace. Your Options.
• Wine Blogging: Brand Building, Customer Loyalty and Sales
• Online Social Networks: Consumer- to-Consumer, Peer-to-Peer Engagement
• Website Design: Designing for Best User Experience & Greatest Sales
• Website Merchandising:  Sell More Online 

Our Symposium agenda will allow attendees to participate in two breakout sessions of their choice: One in the morning, one in the early afternoon. During each of these sessions, panelists will lead an interactive discussion with the audience around a designated topic. Based on several workshops which we led earlier in the year, we know our clients are eager to engage and look forward to some good interaction.

Because of limited space in each of our breakout sessions, we request that attendees reserve their spot in the session of their choice as soon as possible. Signups will be taken the day of the Symposium, at check in, but to ensure you get a seat in the topic of your choice, send your request through today (along with your RSVP if you haven’t already!) to rsvp@inertiabev.com.

See you in July!

As with any new website, when we released www.rethinkcompliance.com to our Inertia clients last Friday, we knew there would be questions about what it will do and how to use the site.  Many of our clients have already responded to our announcement by registering for the site by using the Signup link on the the site’s homepage.  The site is designed to be user friendly and to provide you with the necessary tools you need to process your orders, check compliance order status, and generate complete compliance reports.

Still, there are things to know that will assist you in using the site and getting the most out of it.  Before you use the site, I recommend you visit the site’s Help page and review the tools we created to assist you through the process.  You will find a link to a PDF of the User Guide, which provides detailed walk-through instructions for all site functions.  There is also a PowerPoint training presentation for each of the major use features that is more visual and easy to follow.  Most importantly, a series of webinars are scheduled regularly over the next two months to introduce users to the site and provide an opportunity to receive hands-on training.  It is requested that all users take the webinar prior to using the site, to make for a more beneficial use experience.  Following is the schedule for the live webinars:

Friday   February 22, 2008  10 – 11:30 a.m.
Wednesday  February 27, 2008  10 – 11:30 a.m.
Friday   February 29, 2008  10 – 11:30 a.m.
Wednesday  March 5, 2008   10 – 11:30 a.m.
Wednesday  March 12, 2008   10 – 11:30 a.m.
Wednesday  March 19, 2008   10 – 11:30 a.m.
Wednesday  March 26, 2008   10 – 11:30 a.m.

If you can’t make one of these webinars, don’t worry.  I will be recording a webinar and placing a link on the site so you can access it at any time, day or night. 

There is more to come to make using REthinkCompliance the experience it is meant to be; an easy way to accomplish your direct shipping compliance needs without all of the work of the past.  A FAQ will be on the site shortly as we compile the most frequently asked questions.  We will also be adding a blog to the site so we can communicate to a broad audience changes to the website, address questions, and provide updates on the regulatory environment. 

Our goal is to provide a thoroughly and extensively tested compliance service to wineries that will assure complete user confidence while making shipping compliance maintenance tasks less time consuming and expensive.  To do so, we made the site as easy to navigate and use as possible.  Please don’t hesitate to take advantage of the materials on the Help page.  Once you are familiar with site, I believe you will find it fulfills all of your direct shipping compliance needs so you can sell and ship more wine!

I am pleased to announce that after an extensive period of internal testing by our development and QA staff, REthink Compliance is now available for our client’s exclusive use. 
 
As you may be aware, Inertia has spent countless hours developing REthink Compliance, our revolutionary compliance solution.  This tool is designed to more effectively and efficiently handle the compliance needs for the entire wine industry with no cost to wineries.  In this initial Beta version, REthink Compliance will meet a number of your direct shipping compliance needs.  And, there are more features and enhancements on the way; real-time integration of compliance checks throughout the shipping process flow, a compliance status map, streamlined supplemental data uploads, a “First Steps” guide to locating direct shipping rules and acquiring permits, and more.

About REthink Compliance
REthink Compliance is a groundbreaking tool.  It successfully lowers many of the barriers to direct sales that result from the time, effort and cost associated with complying with the dizzying array of state regulations.  Our goal is to provide a thoroughly and extensively tested compliance service that will assure complete user confidence, while making shipping compliance maintenance tasks less time consuming and expensive. 
 
This efficient service will:
• Produce instant compliance reports, ready to send to regulatory bodies
• Provide up-to-date information on state compliance rules and laws
• Reduce the time you spend on compliance-related matters
• Be supported by a Compliance Council of industry experts and lawyers
• Reduce the overall costs of compliance 
• Produce savings in administrative overhead
• Assure the integrity and accuracy of your data
• Allow you to open more states to shipping with the confidence you are complying with laws and regulations
• Help improve your customer service and retention efforts

REthink Compliance is our contribution to the wine industry; the easier and less expensive it is for wineries to navigate the byzantine compliance requirements of the different states, the easier it will be to sell wine direct.  This, in turn, leads to better consumer access to wine and more direct sales for wineries.  Such a situation benefits everyone in the industry and those wine lovers we serve. 

I encourage you to visit the site at www.rethinkcompliance.com, sign-up, engage and - most importantly - provide feedback. Your insights and experience will be of tremendous value in helping REthink Compliance remove unnecessary barriers to better, more efficient winery direct sales.

I noticed with interest the Texas decision by U.S. District Court Judge Sidney Fitzwater to extend the Supreme Court decision in Granholm v. Heald beyond the limited scope of wineries to include retailers as well.  It’s not the practical effect of the ruling that is interesting, as it contains as many problems for retailers as it solves.  Also, just as with Granholm’s effect on wineries, this ruling does not require the state to allow retailers to ship direct to consumers.  The state could level down and eliminate direct shipments for both in-state and out-of-state retailers, just as some states did with wineries.

What makes this a truly interesting decision in the evolving world of direct wine shipment litigation is that it establishes a legal precedent that will very likely be cited in every Granholm-related direct shipping case in the United States.  While groundbreaking, Granholm was very limited in scope, applying only to wineries.  It left open for interpretation whether the dormant Commerce Clause argument should rightfully be extended beyond wineries, to retailers and wholesalers, under a rationale that there were no significant differences in the activity of direct consumer shipments between those entities.  Judge Fitzwater’s opinion will provide substantial ammunition to those who argue that it should be equally applicable. 

While I am fascinated with the decision because of it’s precedent setting impact, from a practical standpoint this battle is a long way from over.  First, the Judge’s opinion is problematic in that it also holds that Texas could require out-of-state retailers to purchase the wine from Texas wholesalers.  Additionally, this decision could open the floodgates of litigation in many states challenging limitations on retailers shipping direct to consumer.  Because of it’s precedent setting nature, the potentially vast application of this ruling, and the amount of money at stake, there is little doubt the decision will be appealed to the Circuit Court.  With this decision, 2008 is off and running to a very interesting start.  Stay tuned!

As I wallow in the January rains (we’re talking buckets here!) I can’t help but think of my fellow compliance professionals hip-deep in compliance reporting.  For the uninitiated, the end of the holiday season brings the beginning of the compliance crunch.  As bad as any income tax season faced by accountants in April, the compliance crunch occurs every January when annual direct shipment compliance reports come due for all of the wine shipments, tax payments and reconciliations from the previous year.  Keep in mind, this is on top of the usual monthly reports and don’t forget to throw in the quarterly reports for those states requiring them.  And let’s not forget annual TTB reports and reconciliations.  Finally, for many winery administrators this also includes general business reporting such as payroll taxes and income taxes as well.  I’m not trying to depress anyone, but my point clearly is that it’s a busy time that drains substantial resources from wineries as they devote extra effort and personnel to stay compliant.  The Inertia team is developing RethinkCompliance with the goal of lightening the burden on our winery friends.  OK, we can’t help you with the IRS, but RethinkCompliance will make direct shipment reporting for each state as simple as the punch of a few buttons.  Generate the report and send it to the government (don’t forget the check!).  Then, turn your attention to what you enjoy…making and selling your wine.

A couple of other reminders as we enter the new year:  First, it’s a good time to revisit the renewal dates for all of your direct shipper licenses, and frankly, for all of your licenses.  Some licenses are up for renewal at the first of each year, so obviously those need immediate attention.  But even for those licenses that expire annually from the date of issuance, January is a good time to revisit renewal dates.  Keep in mind some states do not send a renewal notice so it’s your responsibility to track the expiration dates.  It’s a good idea to make a tickler file in your new 2008 datebook so that you are sure not to miss a renewal date as they approach.  It’s also a good idea to give yourself a 30-day lead time prior to expiration.  This will protect against time slipping away and your license expiring. 

Second, keep in mind new laws or rule changes.  January is the time of year when many new rules take effect and tax rates change.  A good example is Oregon.  New shipping permit requirements took effect on January 1, 2008 which are an exciting change that will allow wineries to ship direct to licensed Oregon retailers.  There are new reporting rules and a bond requirement but Oregon is a wine saavy state with a strong wine and restaurant market.  If you haven’t done so already, go to the Oregon website and download the new permit application form http://www.oregon.gov/OLCC/docs/liquor_license_and_license_process/new_wine_shipping/direct_shipper_outside_of_oregon.pdf. 

As we move into 2008, my goal is to make RethinkCompliance the wineries’ free, easy and accurate source for compliance news, information, and most importantly, compliance checks and reporting to open the market and allow wineries to reach new fans.