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TPD2 at the POS: Order and brand impact on the tobacco shelf

The Tobacco Products Direc­tive (TPD2) has funda­men­tally chan­ged the design of pack­a­ging at the Point of Sale (POS). When up to 70% of the pack­a­ging is covered by shocking images and warning labels, brand iden­tity on the sales shelf is quickly lost, and orien­ta­tion for custo­mers and staff massi­vely dete­rio­ra­tes. In some count­ries, a visi­ble display regu­la­tion also applies to tobacco and vape products: goods may not be openly visi­ble to custo­mers. This further inten­si­fies the pres­sure to orient: staff must imme­dia­tely reco­gnize where each product is, even with closed cabi­net systems.

Specia­li­zed presen­ta­tion solu­ti­ons from POS TUNING address precis­ely this point to restore order, brand impact, and effi­ci­ency on the tobacco shelf. 100% legally compli­ant with TPD2 and alre­ady prepared for TPD3.

TPD2 Solutions for the tobacco shelf

For retail­ers, TPD2 regu­la­tion in ever­y­day life prima­rily means increased effort for orien­ta­tion. If custo­mers cannot imme­dia­tely find their usual brand in the confu­sing assort­ment, the search time at the check­out noti­ce­ably increa­ses. A well-thought-out assort­ment struc­ture coun­ter­acts this.

100% Brand Focus
through Face­pla­tes & Labels

Better Orien­ta­tion
for Shop­pers and Sales Staff

Always Tidy
easy filling & removal

Dark Market Klappen

TPD2 Compli­ant
and ready for TPD3

Vapes & Liquids

The most important TPD2 rules for e‑cigarettes and e‑liquids

With the TPD2 regu­la­tion, the maxi­mum filling quan­tity of nico­tine-contai­ning liquids was limi­ted to small 10 ml bott­les. This regu­la­tion led to extreme frag­men­ta­tion on the shelf: dozens of narrow bott­les and small packa­ges stand tightly packed. Without special orga­niza­tio­nal systems, products tend to tip over, slide to the back, or disap­pear behind other varie­ties.

Our push­feed systems for vapes and liquids solve this problem by holding even the smal­lest contai­ners seam­lessly at the shelf edge. This prevents disar­ray, faci­li­ta­tes resto­cking for staff, and ensu­res clear sepa­ra­tion by flavors and nico­tine strengths.

TPD2 vs. TPD3

What retailers should prepare for now

TPD2 is not the end of regu­la­tion. At the EU level, a revi­sion, TPD3, is alre­ady being worked on, which is expec­ted to intro­duce stric­ter requi­re­ments for e‑cigarettes, flavors, and nico­tine pouches, among other things. Retail­ers who rely on modu­lar, flexi­bly adap­ta­ble presen­ta­tion systems today will not have to replace the entire shelf with future legis­la­tive chan­ges, but merely adapt indi­vi­dual compon­ents. All POS TUNING solu­ti­ons are desi­gned to be future-orien­ted accor­din­gly.

We have the answers to your questions!

What is TPD2?

TPD2 stands for the Euro­pean Tobacco Products Direc­tive (Direc­tive 2014/40/EU). It is a central EU law that uniformly and strictly regu­la­tes the manu­fac­ture, presen­ta­tion, and sale of tobacco and rela­ted products in all member states.

Why was TPD2 introduced?

The goal of TPD2 is to protect the health of EU citi­zens, espe­ci­ally young people and non-smokers. The direc­tive aims to make it more diffi­cult to start tobacco consump­tion, provide compre­hen­sive infor­ma­tion about health risks, and create uniform stan­dards for the EU inter­nal market. Key measu­res include combi­ned warning labels with images and text on at least 65% of the front and back of pack­a­ging, the prohi­bi­tion of charac­te­ristic flavors such as menthol, and the limi­ta­tion of filling quan­ti­ties for e‑cigarette liquids.

What impact does TPD2 have on product presentation in retail?

The large-scale warning labels signi­fi­cantly reduce the visi­ble brand area on the pack­a­ging, making products on the shelf appear very simi­lar. At the same time, the limi­ta­tion of liquid filling quan­ti­ties leads to signi­fi­cantly more, but smal­ler, pack­a­ging units. Both noti­ce­ably increase the effort for orien­ta­tion, resto­cking, and inven­tory manage­ment in retail.

What is the difference between TPD2 and TPD3?

TPD2 is the curr­ently valid EU direc­tive from 2014. TPD3 refers to a plan­ned revi­sion that is expec­ted to intro­duce stric­ter regu­la­ti­ons for novel products such as e‑cigarettes, flavors, and nico­tine pouches. A concrete date for its entry into force has not yet been set.

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