With just over one year until the introduction of the tobacco display ban, SLR has teamed up with Scandinavian Tobacco Group UK to reach out to local retailers across Scotland and ensure they are prepared.
The date: 6th April 2015
The change: Remove all tobacco and related products from open display. There is also legislation on displaying the price of tobacco products
The limits: 1,000 sq cm allowed for sales, replenishment, stock taking and pricing
The penalties: If you are not compliant fixed issue penalty notices will be handed out, up to £200.
On 6th April 2015 the world of convenience retailing will undergo the biggest change since the introduction of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005. Each store will be forced by law to remove tobacco from display. No matter the size of shop, or how much tobacco you sell, from that date all cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco and rolling tobacco will be banned from display, with only 1,000 sq cm of space shown when making a sale or replenishing displays. With larger stores having removed tobacco in 2013, the two year window given to smaller stores to allow them to prepare a solution is almost at the half-way mark. While some stores may have seen a modest increase in sales since large stores went dark, that grace period will soon be drawing to a close, bringing a real threat to retailers.
The illicit trade, which has been booming in recent years, is set to be one of the main beneficiaries of the display ban. The message for retailers is simple: be prepared. To help, SLR has teamed up with Scandinavian Tobacco Group UK, distributor of Café Crème, Natural American Spirit and Salsa, to help local retailers in Scotland prepare for the ban. Over the next few months we’ll be delivering an indispensible guide to help you get ready for 6th April 2015 – from display solutions to merchandising plans, stocking arrangements and staff training. We’ll also be working with two leading retailers who will be explaining their own preparation and their thoughts on how the tobacco category, and retail itself, will be changing next spring.
To begin though, we will be visiting wholesalers in central Scotland to speak directly to retailers and begin to help them get to grips with the changes they will have to make. So, if you have any questions you’d like to ask, SLR and STG UK will be at Batleys in Glasgow on 26th March, and Bellevue in Edinburgh on 27th March. We’ll be at each depot from 10am. So, please pay us a visit and see what we can do to help you begin to prepare for this huge challenge.
