Imperial Brands has “paused” incentives for selling many of its lines. According to several retailers, these rewards generated “thou­sands of pounds” per year for some stores.

“For years”, the tobacco giant has encouraged stores to stock its brands at under the recommend­ed retail price (RRP). They pay the stores for the value of the discount on each pack.

The payments were made onto Imperial’s Ignite rewards cards.

However, less than a week before Christmas, five shop owners spoke to Better Retailing claiming they were told by Imperial’s reps that the incentives related to many of its lines previ­ously covered were ceasing “with immediate effect”.

Messages from Impe­rial to stores, seen by Better Retailing, stated the pause affects “all Price It Plus & Sell IT activity”. It went on to say that these are “expected to be back in place in three months’ time”. Imperial’s message added reps were visiting stores and “de-enrolling” them from the current plan.

Pause on incentives on Imperial products is temporary

Asked about the change, a spokesperson for Imperial told Better Retailing: “Certain incentives under the Ignite programme that allow retailers who are part of the programme to claim rewards for sell­ing particular products are briefly on pause while some improvements are made to the digital archi­tecture operating Ignite.

“These improvements will ensure a smoother process for retailers claiming rewards. The incentives are expected to be back in place in a few months’ time, and we’ll be keeping our retailers updated.”

One retailer claimed their rep attributed the change to the company shifting its focus to its recently launched Para­mount brand of ultra-val­ue cigarettes.

Imperial’s Paramount brand of cigarettes were launched in Novem­ber 2024. Exclusive till data from thousands of shops obtained by Better Retailing showed around 38% of independ­ent shops were stocking Paramount Superkings or Paramount King Size by 8 December.

The two lines were delivering a combined £116.15 in weekly sales for the average stockist. They have an average retail price of £11.50.

Removal of incentives could make 2025 even tougher for independent convenience stores

While describing the Paramount brand as “sell­ing well”, one of the shop owners affected described the temporary removal of the incentive as a “kick in the teeth”.

They added: “Because the payments accumu­lated on a card, stores used them to save up or to cover unexpected bills. We know 2025 is going to be a tough year, and this will make it that little bit tougher.”

Imperial claimed it would use “great deals” in cash and carries to bridge the gap until the rewards return. However, new Im­perial price lists seen by Better Retailing revealed widespread price rises starting 6 January.

For instance, Para­mount’s RRP is to increase from £11.50 to £12.10.

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