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A Publication Featuring The Information
Services Technology of Maine State Government
| Volume VII, Issue 4 | April 2004 |
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By Mark Latti
Since offering fishing licenses on-line nearly five years ago,
the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s (IFW) On-line Store has grown,
and now offers not only licenses, but registrations, permit applications,
clothing, books, CDs, videos and mugs.
Just point to your browser to
http://www.mefishwildlife.com, and you can purchase your license, apply for
a moose permit, or even purchase embroidered IFW logo merchandise, 24 hours a
day, seven days a week.
As the popularity of the Internet has increased, so has the popularity of the
store, as use has grown each year. Increasingly, those who like to hunt moose,
deer or turkey have turned to IFW’s on-line store to apply and purchase their
permits. When the first permit application for hunting turkeys appeared on-line
three seasons ago, approximately 10% of all who applied, applied on-line. This
past summer, hunters were able to apply on-line for their Any Deer Permit, and a
whopping 40% chose to do so.
While 40% certainly seems like a large number, it is even larger when you
consider that over 90,000 people applied for an Any Deer permit, and before the
advent of the on-line store, all those applications were entered into a computer
by an IFW employee once they were received at IFW headquarters. The on-line
store has eased the permit process for our data entry operators and made things
more convenient for our customers.
We can also provide one-stop shopping for many customers. They can purchase
their hunting and fishing licenses, register their snowmobile or ATV, and even
shop for IFW t-shirts, vests, videos and more.
The IFW Merchandise program has taken off on-line. IFW sells quality embroidered
hats, t-shirts and fleece vests in a variety of sizes and styles. Customers get
a great product, and the department uses the profits from these sales to fund
conservation, educational, and promotional programs. During these tight budget
times, this program has made a difference.
IFW offers these items at its headquarters in Augusta, but it’s not always
convenient to travel to Augusta to get the merchandise. The on-line store has
made it more convenient for our customers, and it has also allowed our
information center to concentrate on in-house information requests without
having to juggle that with the needs of a customer. In-stock orders are shipped
within 5 business days. Items that are out-of-stock, may take four to six weeks
for delivery.
This past January, the department sold 113 pieces of merchandise, 3,266
licenses, 2,570 moose permit applications and 5,626 turkey permit applications
via its on-line store. That is up from just 88 merchandise purchases in January
of the previous year.
The on-line store at
www.mefishwildlife.com has made a huge difference at the Department of
Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and the department will continue to expand the
services and products it offers on-line as quickly as possible. Check it out at
www.mefishwildlife.com.
Questions? Contact the author by e-mailing mark.latti@maine.gov.
