REQUST FOR INFORMATION FOR SAME-DAY DELIVERY ISSUED BY:

Transcription

1 REQUST FOR INFORMATION FOR SAME-DAY DELIVERY ISSUED BY: PENNSYLVANIA LIQUOR CONTROL BOARD PURCHASING AND CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION ROOM 316, NORTHWEST OFFICE BUILDING HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA RFI DATE OF ISSUANCE: AUGUST 31, 2017

2 REQUEST FOR INFORMATION FOR SAME-DAY DELIVERY TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I GENERAL INFORMATION PAGE 1 PART II WORK STATEMENT PAGES 2-4 PART III REQUEST FOR INFORMATION FORMAT PAGE 5 APPENDIX A: QUESTIONS FOR RESPONDENTS TO ADDRESS APPENDIX B: TRADE SECRET/CONFIDENTIAL PROPRIETARY INFORMATION i

3 PURPOSE PART I GENERAL INFORMATION The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) seeks to offer its customers a same-day delivery option to receive wines and spirits purchased at and select brick-and-mortar Fine Wine & Good Spirits (FW&GS) stores. To facilitate same-day delivery, the PLCB is looking to contract with vendors that are qualified and interested in providing delivery services from Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores to customers homes and businesses. This Request for Information (RFI) is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a procurement solicitation. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted to form a binding contract. Information provided in this RFI is not intended to convey any predisposition to a particular solution, method, service delivery methodology, or limit response creativity. TIMELINE Responses are due via to Philip Friedrich, RFI Issuing Officer, at pfriedrich@pa.gov by 10:00 AM on Friday, Sept. 29, RESPONDING INFORMATION If you wish to respond, please submit a complete response using the format in Part III of this RFI. Although the PLCB may ultimately issue a competitive bid solicitation on the basis of the information gathered from this RFI, there is no guarantee that this will occur. Responses should be prepared simply and economically, providing straight-forward and concise descriptions. PROPRIETARY INFORMATION To the extent permissible by law, responses will be held in confidence and will not be revealed or discussed with other responders. All material submitted in response to this RFI becomes property of the PLCB and may be returned only at the PLCB s discretion. Responses submitted may be reviewed and evaluated by any persons at the discretion of the PLCB, to the extent permissible by applicable laws and Commonwealth policies. The PLCB has the right to use any or all ideas presented in responses in any future formulation of a competitive bid solicitation. SUBMISSION COSTS The PLCB is not liable for any cost or expenses incurred by responders in the preparation and submission of responses related this RFI. ELECTRONIC VERSION This RFI is being made available by electronic means. If a responder electronically accepts the RFI, the responder acknowledges and accepts full responsibility to ensure that no changes are made to the RFI. In the event of a conflict between a version of the RFI in a responder s possession and the Issuing Office s version of the RFI, the Issuing Office s version shall govern. GENERAL INFORMATION 1

4 PART II WORK STATEMENT GOALS The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) seeks a viable solution, in partnership with qualified and interested third-party delivery providers, to offer its customers same-day delivery to receive wines and spirits purchased at and select brickand-mortar Fine Wine & Good Spirits (FW&GS) stores. Non-negotiable statutory requirements of the same-day delivery program are as follows: 1. As required by law, each delivery provider must hold a valid and current Class A or Class C transporter for hire licenses, which authorize the possession and transport of alcohol purchased by others. a. Transporter for Hire Class A (IA) License: Available to a reputable person or firm; authorizes the holder to engage in the commercial transportation of alcohol, liquor and/or malt and brewed beverages to and from points in Pennsylvania. Fees: $265 first-year s license fee (prorated quarterly), plus $700 filing fee $265 renewal fee (not prorated), plus $30 filing fee b. Transporter for Hire Class C (IU) License: Available to a reputable person or firm that maintains a fleet of vehicles primarily engaged in general parcel consignments within Pennsylvania; authorizes the holder to engage in the commercial transportation of liquor parcels within Pennsylvania. Fees: $265 first-year s license fee (not prorated), plus $700 filing fee $265 renewal fee (not prorated), plus $30 filing fee A single transporter for hire license of either class covers an unlimited number of vehicles operated by the licensee. State regulations governing transporter for hire licenses can be found in Chapter 9 of Title 40 of the Pennsylvania Code, including but not limited to the requirement to verify the age of the recipient. Please also note that transporters for hire may not store alcohol, unless pursuant to a bailee for hire license. Individuals or entities considering licensure as a transporter for hire are encouraged to seek private legal counsel experienced in Pennsylvania liquor law and licensing matters. Due to the potential for conflicts of interest or other appearances of impropriety, the PLCB cannot provide legal advice to responders. 2. As required by law, sales transactions, including delivery charges, would transpire between the customer and the PLCB through the PLCB s e-commerce website or in-store point-of-sale system. Third-party delivery providers would not charge any customer directly for delivery services, and instead would be reimbursed by the PLCB according to agreed upon delivery rates and payment terms. WORK STATEMENT 2

5 Additional anticipated program requirements: 1. Order, pickup and delivery timeframes are anticipated as follows: a. Customer orders online by 10 a.m. or makes an in-store purchase before noon Third-party delivery provider picks the order up after noon Delivery is made to the customer s home or other designated address by 4 p.m. b. Customer orders online by 1 p.m. or makes an in-store purchase before 3 p.m. Third-party delivery provider picks the order up after 3 p.m. Delivery is made to the customer s home or other designated address by 7 p.m. c. No same-day delivery service will be available on Sundays. 2. Regional contracts are anticipated, awarding delivery rights to a single third-party delivery provider within a designated geographic territory. Responders may provide information about services offered in other Pennsylvania counties. The PLCB anticipates that same-day delivery services may eventually be offered in all parts of the Commonwealth. Regions will be based generally on population centers or marketing areas, may include multiple pickup locations, and may be as follows: a. Five-county Philadelphia area (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties) b. Lehigh Valley (Berks, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton and Counties) c. Northeast Pennsylvania (Luzerne, Lackawanna Counties) d. Susquehanna Valley (Berks, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon, York Counties) e. Central Pennsylvania (Cambria, Centre, Huntingdon, Blair Counties) f. Greater Pittsburgh area (Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Washington, Westmoreland Counties) g. Northwest Pennsylvania (Erie County) 3. The PLCB will determine the same-day delivery fee to be presented to the customer, which is anticipated to be uniform across delivery regions. The same-day delivery fee presented to the customer will include the third-party delivery provider s fee for performing its delivery service, along with a PLCB-imposed convenience fee. The PLCB-imposed convenience fee is intended to cover PLCB costs of facilitating same-day delivery and maintain competitiveness and appeal of other delivery options the PLCB offers. 4. The third-party delivery provider will be required to transport and deliver packages in packaging provided by the PLCB. The third-party delivery provider may not cover or obstruct PLCB packaging with its own packaging, bag, logo, etc. WORK STATEMENT 3

6 5. The PLCB may consider, perhaps for a fee, promoting same-day delivery brought to you by to same-day delivery customers on its e-commerce website and/or in stores where same day delivery is available, but it does not guarantee promotion or naming of third-party delivery providers to consumers. 6. The PLCB anticipates communications between the PLCB and the third-party delivery provider regarding order and delivery details will be made electronically. The PLCB may invite various responders to provide a demonstration of their solution. WORK STATEMENT 4

7 A. COVER LETTER PART III REQUEST FOR INFORMATION FORMAT A cover letter must be provided with your RFI response. The cover letter should include: 1. An introduction of your company. 2. The name, title, mailing address, telephone number, and address of the person to be contacted. 3. A description of specific experience and qualifications in providing same-day delivery services. B. CONCEPTUAL SOLUTIONS AND STRATEGIES Please address the topics and questions in Appendix A. C. TRADE SECRET/CONFIDENTIAL PROPRIETARY INFORMATION If applicable, complete the attached Trade Secret/Confidential Proprietary Information Form. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION FORMAT 5

8 APPENDIX A: QUESTIONS FOR RESPONDENTS TO ADDRESS 1. Elaborate on your company s approach and ability to meet the PLCB goals. 2. Specify any demonstrated experience including unique skills, experience, background, or other considerations that would distinguish your company s capabilities from others to provide sameday delivery services as discussed herein. 3. Describe the barriers and challenges to a successful implementation of your approach and the feasibility of the PLCB s goals. 4. Elaborate on your company s innovative ideas to improve upon the same-day delivery program anticipated by the PLCB, bearing in mind that the first two statutory requirements are nonnegotiable. 5. Provide delivery fee estimates for your company s possible solutions, and discuss your company s willingness to provide delivery services under a revenue-sharing plan and/or to pay for the opportunity to provide delivery services. 6. What are standard payment terms and rates your company would suggest for reimbursement of agreed-upon, per-order fees owed from the PLCB to the third-party delivery provider? 7. What delivery regions (by city, county or ZIP code) would your company be able to service or interested in servicing? 8. What is your standard delivery schedule to end-user consumers (e.g., one hour from order, by 6:00 p.m., etc)? Provide an estimated order processing timeline from the receipt of order to delivery. 9. How would you prefer to electronically receive and respond to order information? 10. Do you customarily provide delivery confirmations to sellers, and if so, how? 11. How do you perform or propose to perform age verification? 12. Can you provide evidence of age verification, and if so, is that information relayed to the seller proactively or upon request? 13. For how long do you maintain delivery records (noting that transporters for hire are required to maintain records of transactions performed under the license authority for two years)? 14. How does your company handle deliveries that are communicated and made available timely by the seller, but that your company is unable to deliver timely, whether due to product breakage/damage or delays? What recourse do customers or sellers have in such cases? 15. How does your company handle or propose to handle deliveries that cannot be completed due to the customer either being absent or unable to verify his/her age or identity at the time of delivery? (Note that a transporter for hire license does not authorize a third-party delivery provider to store alcohol; rather, a separate bailee for hire license must be obtained to authorize storage privileges.) APPENDIX A: QUESTIONS FOR RESPONDENTS: Page 1 of 1

9 APPENDIX B TRADE SECRET/CONFIDENTIAL PROPRIETARY INFORMATION NOTICE Instructions: The Commonwealth may not assert on behalf of a third party an exception to the public release of materials that contain trade secrets or confidential proprietary information unless the materials are accompanied, at the time they are submitted, by this form or a document containing similar information. It is the responsibility of the party submitting this form to ensure that all statements and assertions made below are legally defensible and accurate. The Commonwealth will not provide a submitting party any advice with regard to trade secret law. Name of submitting party: Contact information for submitting party: Please provide a brief overview of the materials that you are submitting (e.g. bid proposal, grant application, technical schematics): Please provide a brief explanation of why the materials are being submitted to the Commonwealth (e.g., in response to PLCB Request for Information #12345): TRADE SECRET: Page 1 of 3

10 Please provide a list detailing which portions of the material being submitted you believe constitute a trade secret or confidential proprietary information, and please provide an explanation of why you think those materials constitute a trade secret or confidential proprietary information. Also, please mark the submitted material in such a way to allow a reviewer to easily distinguish between the parts referenced below. You may attach additional pages if needed. Note: The following information will not be considered a trade secret or confidential proprietary information: Any information submitted as part of a vendor s cost proposal Information submitted as part of a vendor s technical response that does not pertain to specific business practices or product specification Information submitted as part of a vendor s technical or disadvantaged business response that is otherwise publicly available or otherwise easily obtained Information detailing the name, quantity, and price paid for any product or service being purchased by the Commonwealth Page Number Description Explanation TRADE SECRET: Page 2 of 3

11 Acknowledgment The undersigned party hereby agrees that it has read and completed this form, and has marked the material being submitted in accordance with the instructions above. The undersigned party acknowledges that the Commonwealth is not liable for the use or disclosure of trade secret data or confidential proprietary information that has not been clearly marked as such, and which was not accompanied by a specific explanation included with this form. The undersigned agrees to defend any action seeking release of the materials it believes to be trade secret or confidential, and indemnify and hold harmless the Commonwealth, its agents and employees, from any judgments awarded against the Commonwealth in favor of the party requesting the materials, and any and all costs connected with that defense. This indemnification survives so long as the Commonwealth has possession of the submitted material, and will apply to all costs unless and until the undersigned provides a written statement or similar notice to the Commonwealth stating that it no longer wishes to exempt the submitted material from public disclosure. The undersigned acknowledges that the Commonwealth is required to keep all records for at least as long as specified in its published records retention schedule. The undersigned acknowledges that the Commonwealth reserves the right to reject the undersigned s claim of trade secret/confidential proprietary information if the Commonwealth determines that the undersigned has not met the burden of establishing that the information constitutes a trade secret or is confidential. The undersigned also acknowledges that if only a certain part of the submitted material is found to constitute a trade secret or is confidential, the remainder of the submitted material will become public; only the protected information will be removed and remain nonpublic. If being submitted electronically, the undersigned agrees that the mark below is a valid electronic signature. Signature Title Date TRADE SECRET: Page 3 of 3