AGCO
Acronym for the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, established under the Alcohol, Gaming and Charity Funding Public Interest Act, 1996.

Agent
"Agent" refers to the representative of the supplier/manufacturer, licenced by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO). An agent may work directly for a single supplier or may represent several simultaneously. The LCBO will deal only with agents directly appointed in writing by a supplier. Any sub-agents who are subsequently appointed by agents and who are not direct appointees of a supplier will not be recognized by the LCBO.

A supplier may authorize an agent to set price quotations or payment terms on their behalf. The LCBO recognizes the agent's authority to act on this basis only with express written authorization from the supplier. When an arrangement such as this is made in writing, it will continue to be effective until the LCBO receives express written instructions to the contrary from the supplier.

Assortment
The selection of product brands available in a store.

Commitment Letter
The LCBO letter issued to a Supplier in which the LCBO agrees to buy a Product to be sold in selected LCBO stores subject to the terms set out in the letter.

Consumer Unit
The container in which a product is customarily packaged and offered for sale to the consumer.

Corporate Replenishment System
This forecasting, tracking and ordering program is used at the warehouse level to order product corporately, and at the store level for store-specific orders. It is used by the stores to generate SOQs (Suggested Order Quantities) based on the average rate of sales by SKU.

Discontinue
Is the process of removing those products from a store's assortment that contributed least to the store's gross margin sales.

Demographics
The characteristics of a group of customers, as defined by social and economic factors such as household income, language spoken or margin sales.

Flighted
"Flighted" refers to a group of stores. They may be linked for any number of reasons, depending on context.

Inventory Turn
Inventory turn is a measure of how rapidly products are sold and how well inventory is managed. It factors the sales over a given time period and divides that by the average value of inventory over the same time period. Higher numbers mean that products are being sold and replenished quickly.

Liquor
"Liquor" means spirits, wine and beer, or any combination thereof. It also includes alcohol in any form appropriate for human consumption as a beverage alone or in combination with any other matter. This definition is further detailed in the "Liquor Licence Act", R.S.O. 1990, C.L. 19.

Period
"Period" is a fiscal accounting measure of 13, four-week periods per year.

Private Ordering
Private Ordering: There may be products that customer or licencees want that we don't carry. These products can be ordered through the LCBO by contacting our Private Ordering department.

Consignment: Agents wishing to introduce licencees to products that the LCBO doesn't yet sell may be able to do so through our Consignment Program. This program enables participating agents to warehouse a limited quantity of product acquired on consignment terms at the LCBO's warehouse in Toronto while they develop or test the market for niche or new brands.

For more information on either Private Ordering or Consignment, call the LCBO-see the Contacts section of this website.

Product
A Beverage Alcohol Product as defined in the Liquor Licence Act.

Product set and sub-set
The product set is a group of products within a product category (i.e., vodka is a set from the Spirits category). A sub-set is a further segmentation of products within a set, based on specific criteria (i.e., flavoured vodkas would be a sub-set of vodka.)

Promotional Turn
Sales cycle in which a product's sales performance is measured.

Promotional Uplift
Difference between normal sales versus additional sales generated by a promotion. Expressed as a percentage or dollar amount.

Product Needs Letter
A letter sent out by the appropriate category manager requesting new product submissions.

Sales Targets
The volume of sales specified by the LCBO that a Product must achieve within the time(s) required by the LCBO in writing.

Shipping Container
The case carton or outer package that the consumer units are packed in for handling.

Service Level
A measure of product availability in a store. It is expressed as a percentage of all products that were in stock every day during the measured period.

Service Level
A measure of product availability in a store. It is expressed as a percentage of all products that were in stock every day during the measured period.

Shrinkage
Unplanned reduced stock levels due to theft or breakage.

SKU (Stock-Keeping Unit)
"SKU" (Stock-Keeping Unit) refers to a product brand and size representation. It is an individual item given an LCBO number.

Special Markets
As part of the Beer and Special Markets business division, "Special Markets" manages coolers, cocktails-to-go, ciders, sake, Kosher wines, and bar accessories.

Stockout
Situation in which the LCBO has run out of inventory for a SKU.

Supplier
"Supplier" generally refers to the manufacturer or producer of a product. This includes the distiller, brewer, wine maker and anyone from whom the LCBO agrees to purchase liquor. The supplier must generally carry out a substantial part of the manufacturing process, and in all cases, must have full legal rights to sell the product.

Suppliers must comply with applicable liquor laws, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the LCBO purchase order. Suppliers must also comply with the advertising guidelines of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO).

Vendor
"Vendor" is anyone with a legal right to sell a product. Vendors are not agents-they are directly and legally responsible for the quality of the product, whether or not they have manufactured it.

VQA - Vintners Quality Alliance
Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) is a set of standards for winemaking excellence in Canada.