A majority of independent convenience store owners have started preparing for the disposable-vapes ban on 1 June, Better Retailing can exclusively reveal.
With just over two months until the ban takes effect, a survey of more than 200 shop owners by Better Retailing’s publisher Newtrade Media shows more than half of all sites are already cutting down their ranges. However, many of the other vital steps to take before the ban are yet to be tackled, according to the survey.
The findings coincide with Booker publishing a guide this month on how to prepare for the ban. It states that by this point, shop owners should have made staff “fully aware” of the upcoming legislation, be talking to customers “with confidence” about it and be suggesting alternative products that will remain on sale following the ban.
According to Booker, tasks that should currently be underway and completed by the end of April include trimming down disposable-vape ranges to remove slow sellers, increasing facings of remaining disposables and introducing more compliant lines.
The final tasks Booker lists is to rundown all non-compliant stock and replace it with alternatives with a “focus on the leading four brands” – Elfbar, SKE, Lost Mary and IVG.
What challenges are retailers facing preparing for the disposable-vape ban?
Despite the time pressure, stores are reporting being confused by an influx of both ban-compliant and non-compliant product launches, often in ‘pod’ formats. Many of the new compliant products also carry near identical price-points, appearances and even names as non-compliant products.
Natalie Lightfoot, of Londis Solo Convenience in Glasgow, told Better Retailing: “What classes as a closed pod system is still confusing and some vapes that have recently come out don’t look as if they will be compliant. We’ll be guided by the bigger brands and our research.”
Asked by Better Retailing to provide advice for shop owners on how to check if their products are ban-compliant, ACS public affairs manager Daniel Askew urged stores to search the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) official register of legal products, revealing: “They are currently removing non-compliant disposable-vape products and stopping applications for new [single-use] products. Once the ban comes into effect, those products shouldn’t be on there.”
The ACS has a guide on the ban available on its website, and suggested stores get in touch with trading standards.
Email ‘sentiment tracker’ to editorial@newtrade.co.uk for a free copy of the upcoming report.
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