Rural Shops Alliance highlights impact of standardised tobacco packaging on stores
The Association of Convenience Stores has called on the Department of Health to consider a study by the Rural Shops Alliance which highlights the impact of standardised packaging for tobacco products on convenience stores.
The study, which examined over 4,000 tobacco transactions, suggests that standardised packaging would cost retailers tens of millions of pounds each year in increased transaction times. It also found that in 25% of all transactions recorded, staff initially selected the wrong product, which the organisation claims highlights the confusion and delays plain packaging would cause in stores.
Based on tobacco sales and market share statistics, the Rural Shops Alliance has estimated that these delays would cost the convenience sector around £37 million each year.
ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “This study clearly shows that retailers will suffer if standardised packaging for tobacco products is introduced. This research is the most robust evidence on transaction times to be produced anywhere in the world, and the Department of Health should carefully consider this before deciding to introduce yet more costly and disruptive regulatory burdens on local shops.
Never Miss a Retail Update!“Ministers should wait and carefully assess the impact of standardised packaging when it is imposed in Australia later this year. This is the only way to have reliable data on the scale of the business impact. Failure to do anything else would be irresponsible.”
The ACS made its formal submission to the standardised packaging consultation earlier this year.
