With the imminent tobacco display ban set to cause huge disruption for retailers, is it time that retailers started thinking about other uses for one of the most important parts of any store – the tillpoint?

by Antony Begley

April 6th this year will mark a true end-of-an-era moment as every store in the UK covers up its tobacco gantry for good – which poses a new and very interesting question for retailers: now that you can no longer display it, is tobacco the best product to merchandise at the only place in your store that every single customer must visit?

What should be sold at the tillpoint is of course a question that has vexed retailers for many years. Thus far the tobacco giants and Wrigley have put up pretty solid arguments for the dominance of tobacco and gum as the natural tillpoint heros. But will the display ban signal and new turf war?

Manufacturers from countless categories have argued the case over the years for their lines to be stocked at the till – confectionery, e-cigarettes, collectibles, the list goes on – but few have made much industry-wide headway.

That debate is set to be re-ignited – and that’s why we have launched our King of the Till series of articles, giving manufacturers from various categories the opportunity to put their case forward.

Cigarette vending machines

Maintaining a dark gantry behind the till strikes many retailers as a waste of prime retail real estate: every customer sees that part of the store, so why use it for a load of beige, characterless shelves?

One very creative solution is an automated cigarette vending machine. A great example is the range of solutions provided by Vend Data Media Solutions (VDMS). We first came across VDMS as part of a planning exercise for Woodlands Local, our store in Falkirk.

The solution is ingenious in solving a number of very important challenges for local retailers. Rather than risk throwing the tobacco baby out with the bathwater, VDMS’s solutions aim to “future proof your tobacco business” and makes a strong argument for the importance of the role that tobacco will play in local retailing, even after the shutters come down.

How do they work?

The solutions provided by VDMS involve installing what is effectively a vending machine either in the same place as your tobacco gantry is now, or under the counter, below the tills.

Both systems link with your EPoS system and are operated via your existing tills. Touch the tobacco button on the till screen and little images of every cigarette pack you sell pops up. Tap the pack you’re after and machine instantly dispenses the pack.

Some of the benefits are obvious, some are less so. And of course, this isn’t a solution for everyone. It is certainly an option to consider however, and over the next few months we’ll be considering a number of other options.