New research has revealed the effect the tobacco display ban is having on convenience retail.
Him! has found that 61% of c-shoppers who smoke believe it is harder to find out which tobacco products are sold in store since the ban was implemented. 66% of c-shoppers who smoke think it is harder to find out the prices of tobacco in store. Even among those who don’t smoke there has been a shift, with 61% of shoppers saying they have noticed that tobacco products are no longer visible in convenience stores.
A quarter of shoppers who smoke say their favourite brand is out of stock more often than it was before the ban.
The research also found that there have been more changes in range than expected. 29% of retailers say that they have reduced their range vs 17% of retailers who had planned to do so. But 13% say they have increased their range, vs 5% who intended to pre-ban. 17% of Symbols say that they have increased their range vs 9% of Indies
Since the display ban, a significant proportion of retailers perceive tobacco sales to have decreased (slightly). “To manage this change and limit impact on the business, retailers need to be utilising space over the gantry more effectively,” said an him! spokesperson.
The research also found that retailers are not ready to make changes to their till area. 56% of retailers say that they would not be open to stock other products in the front are where their tobacco used to be on display. “It’s a difficult choice between ensuring it is crystal clear that tobacco is still available and also what could be communicated in this prime ‘selling’ space,” says the spokesperson. “18% of shoppers say that they only go till point/kiosk at the front of the store! At some point we expect a competitive fight between suppliers who will to work hard to convince them that their products should be up there.”
More than half of shoppers who smoke believe that prices have increased. Whereas retailers say prices mainly remain the same. 79% of retailers say that they have kept the same price. (18% of Symbols say they have increased their prices and 2% decreased vs 13% of Indies say that they have increased and 10% have decreased.)
29% of c-shoppers say they have switched to a lower priced brand since the tobacco display ban. And 26% c-shoppers say have bought fewer cigarettes/ tobacco products since the tobacco display ban.
Shoppers also had concerns over increased queue times… and around half believe the speed of service has slowed down.
