Insight launches global tobacco category resource centre

December 1, 2009

In September 2009 Insight and NACS embarked on a new project to explore the global challenges in the tobacco category and build a resource centre of information highlighting the tobacco trading environments around the word.

The international tobacco industry is experiencing challenges on several fronts. They include volume decline in mature markets, excise tax increases, growth in illicit trade, increasing regulation and lobbying from tobacco control groups.

Over the last three issues of the newsletter - October, November and December - we have provided the international convenience industry with clear analysis, insight and information on the very latest developments with articles, reports and Insight C-TV video features.

The October issue kicked off with a focus on retail tobacco display bans and discovered how trade bodies and tobacco companies are helping convenience retailers through an increasingly dark passage.

The article explored the markets where display bans have been introduced and countries and regions in which they have been proposed.

We discovered the impact of display bans on sales and youth smoking, in particular, and we highlighted the impact display bans are having on illicit trade in markets where they have been introduced.

We also explored the operational issues associated with display bans and featured video interviews with leading convenience retailers about the tobacco category.

http://www.nacsonline.com/NACS/News/Global/1009/Pages/TobaccoStory.aspx

In November we focused on the differing regulatory experiences around the world and tobacco display bans, in particular.

We explored the rules and requirements of display bans within countries and found some markets extremely prescriptive but others less so.

We explored the impact of retail display bans on sales and the shopper reaction.

The edition also uncovered the explosion in illicit trade in Ireland following the introduction of a retail display ban on 1 July 2009. http://www.globalcstorefocus.com/0911/tobacco.html

December’s edition explores the different solutions adopted by retailers in markets operating under a retail display ban, their impact on business and the industry support. The article compares and contrasts the ease of compliance and costs in different markets and examines the day-to-day consequences of display bans for convenience retailers.

We also feature exclusive video footage of industry leaders discussing the key challenges in the tobacco category.

Insight and NACS would like to thank all of the contributors to this global tobacco project for their support. The resource centre features several key documents, supporting material, video links and photographs of retail displays, which are designed to assist convenience retailers in business.