More and more countries are tightening their legislation for tobacco products, extending to a complete ban on branding and advertising on packaging. France, Great Britain, Belgium, Australia, and Turkey are among the pioneers of plain packaging. For retailers, this means that standardized packaging, usually in an inconspicuous olive brown, is increasingly defining the appearance of the tobacco shelf. What offers little in terms of design presents retailers and customers with a very practical challenge at the point of sale: orientation on the shelf.
Plain packaging for cigarettes and tobacco products
Standardized packaging at the point of sale
Visual features: Color, font, and pictorial health warnings
Plain packaging, also known as standardized packaging, refers to cigarette packs and other tobacco packaging that may no longer display any brand-specific design except for the brand name. The aim of the regulation is to make tobacco products less attractive to consumers. Misleading visual signals, such as colors or other design elements that suggest lower harmfulness, are thus prevented.
Plain packaging generally follows a uniform design scheme that is precisely defined by law:
Uniform background color
Usually an olive-brown to dark green shade, which has been tested in studies as being particularly unattractive.
Standardized font
The brand name may only appear in a prescribed font size, color, and type – without a logo and without graphic elements.
Large-scale pictorial health warnings
Combined text and image warnings take up a large part of the packaging surface and are mandatory in many countries.
This brings noticeable consequences for the point of sale. Where colorful, clearly distinguishable packaging once made it easier to find products on the shelf, customers and sales staff now look at a shelf wall with almost identical packaging. Finding the desired product takes noticeably longer, which both slows down the sales process and can impair customer satisfaction.
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Plain packaging: A global perspective
What began in 2012 with Australia as the first country in the world has developed into a global trend in recent years. More than 25 countries and territories worldwide have now introduced plain packaging, and regulation is being prepared or implemented in numerous other states. In addition to Australia, countries that have introduced or are actively introducing standardized packaging for tobacco products include New Zealand, Canada, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Turkey, Singapore, Thailand, and Uruguay.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends plain packaging as an effective measure to curb tobacco consumption under the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which further accelerates its global spread. A gradual expansion of the requirements is also emerging internationally for other product categories such as e‑cigarettes or cigars.
In Europe, France, Great Britain, and Norway were among the first countries to introduce plain packaging, followed by Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Belgium, Hungary, and Finland. Other European states such as Denmark have followed suit. While there is no general obligation for standardized packaging at the EU level, the European Tobacco Products Directive expressly allows member states to introduce stricter national measures such as plain packaging. Some countries are now extending their requirements to other product categories such as cigars, rolling papers, or e‑cigarettes, so retailers should prepare for ongoing developments in regulation.
Our solutions for the tobacco shelf are impressive
Mastering challenges with POS TUNING
A confusing shelf situation not only costs time at the checkout but can also affect customer satisfaction. A well-thought-out product presentation can provide a targeted countermeasure. POS TUNING has been dealing with the requirements of tobacco regulation at the point of sale for years and supports retailers in finding practical solutions for their individual shelf situations. Would you like to know how to keep your tobacco shelf organized and customer-friendly despite plain packaging? Contact us – we will be happy to advise you on the possibilities for your point of sale.
