Brixton’s shoppers are thrilled with their new Londis on Overton Road.
Give your sales some bounce!
Londis has everything you need to make the most of the Easter 2025 opportunity.
7 LONDIS NEWS
Booker unveils new delivery app for retailers.
11 COMMUNITY NEWS
The latest round up of community news from Londis stores.
13 INDUSTRY NEWS
Industry welcomes Crime and Policing Bill.
19 GROCERYAID UPDATE
The latest news from industry charity GroceryAid.
22 OVER AND ABOVE
Londis Overton Road is winning smiles and spend.
30 THE FLIP SIDE
Purvang Patel has successfully flipped an old international store to Londis.
40 A CRACKING OPPORTUNITY
Make the most of Easter 2025.
47 JACK’S UPDATE
Help your shoppers cook up tasty family meals for less.
57 NEW PRODUCT ROUND UP
The hottest new products to hit the shelves.
63 SHOW-STOPPING!
The Booker Retail Trade Shows 2025.
69 SHINE WITH WINE
The Londis Wine Festival is back!
75 VAPE UPDATE
How to sell vapes responsibly.
83 CMA PRICING PRACTICES
Stay on the right side of the law with the CMA’s official pricing guidance.
87 ACS VIEWPOINT
James Lowman unveils the latest findings of the ACS Crime Report 2025.
Booker Retail Partners
Tel: 0870 050 0158
Opening hours: 8am–5:30pm Monday to Friday
IT and Customer Services
Opening hours: For customer services: 6am–9pm (Monday to Friday)
For IT: 7am–9pm (Monday to Friday)
Email: For customer services: londis.claims@bookerretail.co.uk or enquiries@londis.co.uk
Helpdesk: 0800 298 0758
Londis News team: Email: londisnews@ londis.co.uk
NEW ICE KICK
Welcome to our March-April issue of Londis News!
Time to spring
into action!
With the spring months upon us, there’s a host of fresh opportunities to help you drive footfall, sales and profits.
The days are beginning to lengthen and, with a bit of luck, the temperatures will soon begin to rise – which is always a great sign for retailers.
With the spring months now upon us, there’s a host of new opportunities for you to capitalise on and we’ll be highlighting just some of them in this issue. An exciting new development is the soft launch of Booker’s new low-cost delivery app. Scoot is backed by a full support package and marketing programme. I look forward to watching how it develops and grows over time.
Another clear opportunity on the horizon is Easter, which is always a great chance for retailers to grow footfall and sales. As always, Londis has a fantastic range and promotional package in place to help you make the most of this key seasonal opportunity.
Similarly, this year’s Londis Wine Festival is set to drive more sales in an important category and you can read more about that inside.
With vaping legislation set to change in the near future, we have provided ACS Approved Guidance on how to maximise sales in this important category while also ensuring that you are selling vaping products responsibly, in every sense.
We also take a look back at the recent Booker Trade Shows and as always, there are some really interesting store profiles for you to check out and hopefully pick up one or two ideas that you can implement in your own store. And, as ever, you’ll find the usual mix of news, views, advice and ideas to help make the most of the next couple of months and beyond.
I wish you the very best of trading.
Look forward to seeing you in-store!
Stewart Fenn Sales Director, Booker Retail Partners
YOUR LONDIS
Booker unveils delivery app for symbol retailers
Londis retailers will soon have access to Scoot – the new rapid delivery ordering platform which can help them deliver local groceries within 30 minutes.
The new ordering platform will connect shoppers with participating stores, enabling them to order from a range of products, curated by the retailer.
Scoot facilitates the ordering, payment, and picking processes, leaving retailers to organise the delivery, which they can handle in-house or via a third party.
Scoot is currently piloting in Budgens Abridge, with a further three stores due to be piloted in March
The platform will then be phased out more widely to Booker symbol group retailers across Budgens, Londis, Premier and Family Shopper from April 2025.
The low-cost ordering platform builds on Booker’s commitment to support independent retailers in growing their business – offering the convenience of home delivery allows these retailers to reach new customers within their local community and help them increase sales opportunities.
Retailers also benefit from being able to set their own delivery, service and minimum order charges, which can vary dependent on location.
Retailers who sign up to Scoot will receive a launch support package worth over £2,800 – including point of sale, digital assets and thermal delivery bags.
All stores can take advantage of upweighted marketing support including targeted social media adverts, and a contribution towards a full promotional wrap for their delivery vehicle.
Colm Johnson, Managing Director for Booker Retail, said: “We’re always looking for new and innovative ways to help our customers grow their business, so we are incredibly proud to announce the launch of our new delivery platform, Scoot, to support them in doing just that.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity for our retailers to increase their basket spend, store sales, and connect with new and existing shoppers in their local communities. The feedback from our pilot test has been really positive and we look forward to welcoming more retailers to the platform over the next few months.”
l Fully flexible model.
l Make an estimated £34,000 additional profit per year.
l Only 1% commission charged up to £5,000 of weekly sales.
l Zero commission once you reach £5,000 of weekly sakes on the app.
COMMUNITY NEWS
Key issues of interest to you Serving up a treat
Londis Fitzwilliam in Pontefract is enjoying extra tasty footfall and sales thanks to the opening of a new in-store food-to-go concept.
The store has been fitted with a smart new serve-over counter offering locals and passersby a range of food-to-go options.
Breakfast options will be served between 7am and 11am and lunch from 11am until 2pm.
Products include freshly made to order filled muffins, bagels, sandwiches and more.
Shoppers can also start their day with a great value ‘Hot Breakfast Deal’ including a freshly made sausage or bacon muffin, hash browns and a juice drink for £5.49.
Having a ball in Broad Haven
Londis Broad Haven in Wales helped raise much needed funds for the local community by supporting its recent Snowball 2025 event.
Held in Broad Haven village hall in early February, the evening offered live music, dancing, and a delicious meal.
Londis Broad Haven donated a hamper full
of delicious treats to the Snowball raffle and also helped to drum up vital ticket sales with a series of upbeat posts on its social media pages.
Money raised has been put towards funding the local community centre which offers a range of classes, support groups and meeting spaces for local people.
Key issues of interest to you Retail industry welcomes Crime and Policing Bill
The wide-ranging Crime and Policing Bill was laid in Parliament on 25 February.
The retail industry has given a warm welcome to the Crime and Policing Bill, which sets out a wide range of measures aimed at empowering police forces and tackling crimes like shop theft and antisocial behaviour.
The Bill, which was laid in Parliament on 25 February, is set to be backed up by the recruitment of 13,000 additional police officers.
It will also make assault against shopworkers a standalone crime in England and Wales, (as is already the case in Scotland) and scrap the £200 shoplifting threshold.
Other measures outlined in the Bill include:
l Police will no longer need to apply for a warrant to search a premises where stolen goods have been electronically located.
l Increased powers to crack down on repeat antisocial behaviour offenders, with new Respect Orders banning those prolific offenders from town centres.
l Expanding police powers to drug test
more suspects on arrest, helping direct more drug users into treatment and away from illegal drugs.
l Creating a new criminal offence of possessing a bladed article with the intent to cause harm.
In the year ending September 2024, police recorded one million incidents of antisocial behaviour. In the same period, they recorded more than 490,000 shop theft offences, an increase of 23% over the previous 12-month period.
Welcoming the introduction of the Crime and Policing Bill, ACS Chief Executive James Lowman said: “We hope it will send a clear message that shop theft and assaults on retailers will be taken seriously by both the police and the justice system.
“People running and working in shops deserve to be treated with respect, and we believe this Bill takes important steps toward that goal.”
Record-breaking mystery shopper results for lottery retailers
The number of retailers correctly asking for ID as proof of age for lottery sales is at its highest level since National Lottery mystery shopping visits started over two decades ago.
Allwyn organised more than 8,200 mystery shopper visits over 2024 as part of its new Operation Guardian programme.
The final results show that a recordbreaking 92.3% of National Lottery retailers correctly asked players who appeared under the age of 18 for ID as proof of age on their first visit.
Allwyn also carried out 4,000 ‘excessive play’ visits to ensure stores could provide support information to players requesting help with their play if needed.
This also incorporated a smaller-scale mystery shop exercise for the new 10-scratchcard per purchase limit towards the end of the year.
The final part of Operation Guardian, a
‘knowledge check,’ encompassed 4,000 visits to assess store staff’s knowledge around preventing underage play and minimising excessive play.
Retailers were tested using six core questions, with 85% having answered five or more correctly.
Any retailer not passing one of the three parts of Operation Guardian received additional training from Allwyn.
Allwyn’s Director of Commercial Partnerships and Retail Sales, Alison Acquaye-Acford, said: “A huge congratulations to our 40,000-plus National Lottery retailers for their commitment to selling The National Lottery responsibly and raising their standards to the highest levels ever seen.”
TWC reveals 2024's key convenience trends
The confectionery, soft drinks and food-to-go categories showed the highest value growth in the convenience sector in 2024 according to data from TWC’s SmartView Convenience market read.
Other insights included in the report included:
l Value sales were down by 6% through 2024 – but this was driven by declines in tobacco/tobacco alternatives and commission.
l Average spend per unit only increased by 1% in 2024.
l Alcohol sales underperformed at Christmas (versus the performance over the rest of the year).
l Branded products outperformed ownlabel sales.
l The leading suppliers are winning share. In eight key convenience categories, threequarters of the top two suppliers in each category are growing their share of sales in the channel.
InPost unveils label-free parcel delivery service
InPost Group has launched label-free delivery service Send.
Shoppers can use InPost’s new Send service to post parcels from one InPost Locker to another, an out-of-home point such as a Pick Up and Drop Off location, or directly to their chosen home address.
Accessible through the InPost app, Send can process small, medium and large parcels up to 15kg.
The launch follows InPost’s commitment to invest £600m in its UK operations by 2029, following its exponential growth in the UK where it delivered 93.2 million
PayPoint boosts accessibility with translated training guides
parcels in 2024, double the volume from 2023.
Neil Kuschel, CEO of InPost UK, said: “Send marks a pivotal moment for both InPost and the wider UK postal market, bringing the parcel experience up to date with consumers’ lifestyles.
“We are proud to introduce this new service that directly meets those needs and drives increased competition in the industry.”
PayPoint retailers to distribute emergency fuel vouchers
A partnership between PayPoint and Fuel Bank Foundation means people facing fuel poverty can turn to local retailers to redeem emergency energy top-up vouchers.
Those who receive Fuel Bank energy vouchers can redeem their pre-paid top-up vouchers for energy meters in any PayPoint store, to get their power back on.
Around six million UK households are currently living in fuel poverty, and the charity anticipates demand for support to be greater than ever this year.
Fuel Bank Foundation CEO Matthew Cole said: “Over the next few months, we estimate that more than a quarter of a million people will turn to us for help.”
Online training guides from PayPoint have been translated into Urdu, Indian Punjabi and Sinhalese to help retailers who don’t speak English as a first language.
PayPoint made the move following feedback from retail partners and the translated guides are now available to download online for the PayPoint Mini and Connect. Retailers will also be sent emails with the resources on launch.
Antony Sappor, Retail Proposition & Partnerships Director, PayPoint, said: “By providing key materials in a wider array of translations, we hope that more of our retailer partners can take advantage of the tools on offer to help their businesses thrive, delivering the best possible service to their local communities.”
GroceryAid Day 2025 is almost here!
GroceryAid Day 2025 is set to take place on Thursday 8 May and is the perfect opportunity to let your team know about the free, confidential support that is always available.
It’s not long now until GroceryAid Day 2025, the annual opportunity for you to help elevate the awareness of our industry charity in stores across the UK.
Thursday 8 May will see this year’s annual GroceryAid Day take place, offering you the chance to join hundreds of retailers in letting your team know about the charity’s free and confidential financial, emotional and practical services that are available to them 24/7, 365 days a year.
Did you know that colleagues can access GroceryAid’s services and support from the very first day of their employment? And after just six months of continuous employment, if they have experienced a drop in income, they may be eligible for a non-repayable financial grant.
GroceryAid Day 8 May 2025
If you or any of your team need immediate emotional support, you can call GroceryAid’s FREE and confidential Helpline, which is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year on 08088 021122. Calls will be answered by a trained counsellor who can either give immediate support or signpost callers to another GroceryAid service that may help. More than 200 languages are also supported through the Helpline, on request.
Support and further advice are also available through the website, groceryaid.org.uk/get-help. The website has an accessibility toolbar which translates the content into more than 100 different languages, as well as text to speech in 60 languages.
All of GroceryAid’s services are completely free and confidential and they do not disclose any details back to the charity. This emotional and practical support is also available to spouses, partners and dependants.
GroceryAid Day is a great way to help you ensure that your colleagues can reach out to GroceryAid for support.
Retailers can order their free GroceryAid communications package quickly and easily by visiting groceryaid.org.uk.
The pack contains everything you need for GroceryAid Day from posters and leaflets to wallet cards and stickers.
There’s everything you need to make all of your colleagues aware of the free and confidential financial, practical and emotional support that is available to them, should they ever need it.
BOOST YOUR EASTER SALES WITH THE
NO.1 SPARKLING BRAND IN SYMBOLS AND INDEPENDENTS
PROFILE
RETAILER
Change for the better
Positive difference
Experienced Londis retailers Shabeshan Balasundram and Jeyendran Alakendran are making a positive difference to local lives with the opening of their newest store in Brixton.
The positive impact that a professional, community-focused convenience store can have on local lives is widely known – and well documented right here in the pages of Londis News.
One community where that positive impact is now being keenly felt is The Angell Town Estate in London, Brixton – a place with a notorious reputation for antisocial behaviour and a high rate of poverty.
And it’s here, at the heart of the estate on Overton Road, that experienced Londis retailers and cousins Shabeshan Balasundram (Shabs) and Jeyendran (Jey) Alakendran have opened their latest store.
“It’s a tough area,” Shabs explains. “But it was also one that was crying out for a quality convenience solution and genuine value-for-money proposition –along with essential services and support for local people.
“There are 3,500 homes on the estate and no other convenience store, so the need for a place that local people could walk to and top up on essential products and services was clear.”
STORE INFO
And that was exactly what Shabs, Jey and their Londis RDM Brian Neve, set out to deliver when they first took the site on in 2023.
Top tips!
1
Own-label brands Jack’s and Euroshopper are powerful mediums for offering shoppers value for money.
Retailers: Shabeshan
Balasundram and Jeyendran
Alakendran
Store size: 1,800sq ft
Staff: 4
Services: PayPoint, National Lottery, Collect+, Payzone, Oyster Top Up
Opening hours: 7am-10pm
Key categories: Grocery, fresh and chilled, soft drinks
However, bringing their positive vision to life was by no means a quick-run thing, with an array of planning hoops to jump through before work could begin.
“It took almost a full year for us to get through all the planning processes, but we finally did, and in October 2024 we were able to start converting the space into a brand-new convenience store, the likes of which the estate had never seen,” Shabs says.
A top-to-bottom refit of the vacant unit ensued, with brand-new Londis Overton
2
3
If you run promotions, shout about them! We distribute more than 3,000 leaflets a month and highlight deals on social media.
Offering as many helpful services as possible will help your store become a community hub.
Road opening on 6 December.
Londis Overton Road features 7.5 metres of fresh and chilled produce, including fresh Jack’s-branded fruit and vegetables, convenient ready meals at value-for-money prices, and essential deli and dairy products.
There’s also nine metres of grocery, which Shabs says has already become one of the store’s fastest-selling categories, with Jack’s and Euroshopper products leading the charge.
“The Jack’s range is perfect for this store,” Brian adds. “It’s great quality, it’s price marked, it’s exactly what shoppers need, so we sell lots of it!”
“In fact,” he says, “Londis Overton Road already sells more Jack’s products than any other store in my area.
“The value proposition is what really sets this store apart. Value for money is so important to local shoppers, and we’ve concentrated especially hard on delivering it here.
“The Jack’s products do a great job of that, and we also have dedicated Euroshopper bays.”
Shabs also distributes more than 3,000 promotional leaflets across the estate every month to drive that value message home even deeper and raise awareness of the store’s range.
The new neighbourhood store also features a footfall-driving food- and drinks-to-go zone, including a My Coffee Station solution, hot baked goods from Country Choice and a Rollover Hotdogs offer with three choices.
The Rollover offer is proving to be an especially popular pick with locals, selling at a rate of more than 25 a day and growing.
Londis Overton Road is also packed full of useful services for local people, including parcel collection, bill payments, and gas and electric card top ups.
Shabs is also working to cement the store as a new type of community hub and is currently in talks with the local police force about holding monthly ‘meet and greet’-style surgeries in the store for local people.
“We’ve only been open since December but in that short space of time our store has already become a hub that local
people are increasingly relying on and using every single day to top up,” Shabs says.
Sales since the store opened have been showing pleasing progression – with RDM Brian having “no reservations” that it will hit £30,000 a week in a year’s time.
“It’s drawing in footfall from the whole estate and even now, two months on from opening, we are still getting new shoppers through the doors saying things like: ‘Wow! ‘We’ve only just found you, we’re so grateful that you’re here’,” he says.
“London can be a tough borough to trade in, but I do believe that there’s a true success story unfolding here.
“Londis Overton Road really is a prime example of what a positive difference the right kind of store can make to a community.”
masters
The flip side
Londis retailer Purvang Patel is tasting success following a successful flip to Londis.
Shrove Tuesday has been and gone – with kitchens across the country still reeling from the annual celebration of pancake perfection and flipping fails.
Now, while we can’t comment on his pancake flipping skills – one thing that convenience retailer Purvang Patel is red hot at flipping is a store.
In just three short months, Purvang has successfully managed to flip his new 2,000sq ft store from a half-baked international offer to a fully-cooked Londis.
Located in the heart of southeast London’s The Village, the retail unit and flats above were modernised as part of a smart £300,000 development in 2021.
However, while the store’s physical attributes were clear for Purvang to admire, its range, when he took it over in November 2024, left a lot to be desired.
Purvang explains: “The previous owners had run it for a couple of years and the offer focused almost entirely on international products – specifically Romanian, Bulgarian and Turkish items. The store only had a tiny selection of UK brands in the confectionery and soft drinks categories and absolutely nothing at all in key categories such as bread, chilled or frozen.”
As an upshot, the store was only really drawing in footfall from a small selection of the local community and not meeting wider needs or opportunities. And the
opportunity, as far as Purvang could see, was sizeable.
“The Village is a nice area, it has a strong community feel with lots of housing and green spaces all around. There’s a wide pedestrian walkway that leads to a residential estate on one side of the store and on just the other side of that is a Co-op.”
And while the old store’s weighty
international focus certainly differentiated it from the Co-op, for Purvang, it was a missed opportunity.
“Yes, this is quite an ethnically diverse area but in my opinion that still didn’t warrant devoting such a large amount of space to purely international products,” he explains.
“There was also a clear opportunity to offer local shoppers more choice on
the high street, including a great value offer, a far wider range and new footfall drivers, such as food- and drinks-to-go.”
With the help of experienced Londis RDM Brian Neve, work to flip the store’s offer began in November 2024.
“I had around £75,000 worth of international stock on the shelves, so it required careful management to sell through that, whilst bringing in the new
Flipping the store’s offer from full international to a 75% Londis range in such a short space of time has been a big challenge, but it shows just what you can achieve when you’re motivated and when you have the right support.
Purvang Patel
Londis range at the same time,” he explains. “It really was quite a process!”
But one which has certainly paid off.
Just three months on, shoppers who enter what is now known as Londis The Village are treated to a decidedly tasty new look and range.
Greeting them is a colourful abundance of fresh produce, courtesy of a new 2.5 metre chiller for fresh fruit and vegetables with a further two metres of shelving for ambient produce.
The range includes products from the Jack’s brand, offering shoppers exceptional quality and value for money.
For the first time ever, shoppers also have access to a marvellous mix of products from Londis’ chilled range including Jack’sbranded ready meals, meats, deli and dairy items, all of which are housed in a smart 3.75 metre chiller.
International chilled products, including meats and cheeses, still have a place in the store, within a dedicated two metre fridge.
Bread and bakery has also been flipped, with the introduction of a large new range of mainstream UK branded products.
“Bread and bakery is, or should be, a key category for any convenience store but the old one only sold a small range of mainly Romanian breads,” Purvang adds.
Soft drinks are housed in a 3.75 metre fridge, with a further 1.5 metres for 2L bottles and 1.5m for multipacks.
Londis The Village also offers shoppers more than five metres of chilled beers, wines and ciders, all of which are supported with Londis’ great value prices and strong promotional offer.
“The old store did offer quite a range of beers, but the prices weren’t competitive enough,” Purvang adds. “We’ve turned that on its head too, with a great new range of bestselling brands and promotions.”
The store’s existing bank of six upright freezers has also been refreshed with five doors now dedicated to products from Londis’ frozen range including the Frozen Meal Deal.
Shoppers are responding so positively to the new store. We’re seeing lots of new faces every day and once we get them through the doors, they can’t fail to be wowed by the new range, our relevant USPs and the friendly service that we deliver.
Purvang Patel
STORE INFO
Store name: Londis The Village
Location: The Village, Greenwich, London
Retailer: Purvang Patel
Staff: 6
Store size: 2,000sq ft
Key categories: BWS, soft drinks, confectionery, fresh and chilled
“Frozen is a growing category but the old store didn’t even sell pizzas or waffles – now we have five doors for Londis products and one door for international goods,” he adds.
Responding to local demands, Purvang has also introduced a new range of organic products, including organic crisps and wines, which are attractively merchandised in a dedicated bay.
Another footfall-driving new addition has been the introduction of a Treat Stop branded food- and drinks-to-go offer – including fresh self-serve coffee from My Coffee Station, along with slush and Rollover Hotdogs – all of which Purvang expects to “take off” in the warmer summer months to come.
And of course, it’s not just the store’s range which has been overhauled. It’s bright and spacious interior has also been dressed in the Londis brand’s livery in line with the Customer Journey.
“Flipping the store’s offer from full international to a 75% Londis range in such a short space of time has been a big challenge, but it shows just what you can achieve when you’re motivated and when you have the right support,” Purvang adds.
“Shoppers are responding so positively to the new store. We’re seeing lots of new faces every day and once we get them through the doors, they can’t fail to be wowed by the new range, our relevant USPs and the friendly service that we deliver.”
Products from both the Jack’s and Euroshopper brands are proving to be an especially big hit with shoppers – offering a clear point of difference from the store’s old offer and what’s available in the Coop next door.
Top tips!
Offer your shoppers standout value for money with the Jack’s and Euroshopper brands.
Drive local awareness of your range and strong promotional offer with leaflet drops.
Don’t forget to smile! Friendly customer service is a huge driver of loyalty.
“It’s only been a few months but we’re already building up a strong following of new regulars, which is so pleasing,” says Purvang.
Despite the huge shift, the store’s turnover has not slipped, with sales now pleasingly on the up.
“Our challenge going forward is to continue driving awareness of the change locally and we’re working hard on that with local marketing and leaflet drops.
“There’s still a way to go but I’m excited about the journey,” Purvang concludes.
M296890
SEASONAL UPDATE
treats
How to crack Easter
Londis is helping retailers to make the most of the eggstremely valuable Easter opportunity.
As one of the biggest seasonal opportunities of the year, Easter has always helped retailers add some muchappreciated bounce to their sales.
Easter 2024 certainly proved no exception to the rule with value and unit growth outperforming total FMCG and confectionery trends at 13.5% and 2.4% respectively during the season.
There was also a 14% increase in trip spend and a 6% rise in trips compared to the rest of the year, according to Kantar data for the 13 weeks to 31 March 24.
With figures like that, it’s little surprise that retailers across the country will be hoping for an equal, if not even better, performance in 2025.
The fact that Easter is late this year – a full three weeks later than 2024 to be precise – will certainly set them up to do just that.
Easter Sunday falls on 20 April this year – giving retailers a long and opportunityrich lead up in which to focus on driving that all important excitement, footfall and sales.
Product spotlight
CREME OF THE CROP
The Cadbury Creme Egg has been an icon of the season for over half a century, with 3.7 packs sold every second, according to Nielsen ScanTrack data from Mondelez International.
In 2024 the brand expanded its Creme Egg portfolio, launching the Cadbury Creme Egg Tablet, which sold a bumper 4.6 million units nationwide, making it the number one NPD for the entire Easter 2024 season, Mondelez claims.
Fortunately, Londis is here to help, with an egg-cellent range, attention-grabbing promotions and showstopping POS packages to support them in doing just that!
INNOVATIVE IDEAS
New products remain a powerful way to drive growth within the Easter season and Londis has certainly delivered this year, with a raft of new products and Group Exclusives designed to help sales bloom.
New for 2025 and available to Londis retailers now are KitKat Mini Eggs pouches which offer a maxi-sized minimum POR of 43.3%.
Perfect for scattering in hunts, stirring into bakes or just scoffing alone, minisized eggs are one of the fastest growing segments of the Easter market at the moment.
Other new mini-sized egg launches include Crispy M&Ms Choco Eggs –available now in packs of 72g with an RSP of £1.69 and a POR of 20.1%.
And who could forget the Terry’s Chocolate Orange Filled Egg? This surefire Easter hit boasts an RSP of 99p and a juicy POR of 39.9%.
In addition to new products, the return of old and much-loved favourites, such as the Malteser Bunny and the classic Cadbury Creme Egg, will also help retailers to get those all-important Easter sales clucking.
Small, self-treat and novelty items such as these are perfect for driving unplanned impulse purchases throughout the season, especially when backed with unmissable multi-buy deals.
As the end of the Easter season approaches, the gifting trend comes into its own, prompting shell egg sales to shine.
As such, Cadbury advises retailers to gear up for a ‘gifting finish’ for the last three weeks before Easter Sunday by ensuring that they are offering a wide range of shell eggs in small, medium, large and giant sizes – as well as other gifting formats.
This Easter, Londis retailers will be able to offer their shoppers unbeatable value with an array of round pound deals on shell eggs and boxed chocolates from bestselling brands for only £2, £3, £4 and £5.
Traditional medium to large-sized
The three phases of Easter
Mondelez International recommends that retailers split Easter into three phases:
l Getting off to a fast start (January to Valentine’s Day);
l Building momentum (from Valentine’s Day to Mother’s Day);
l Gearing up for a ‘gifting finish’ for the last three weeks as the period reaches its finale.
eggs remain a firm favourite with shoppers, and Londis retailers can offer them all that their hearts and baskets desire with its cracking range of topselling eggs from big-name brands including Kit Kat Chunky, Aero Peppermint and Skittles for only £4 each.
And while medium to large-sized eggs remain the heartland for seasonal shell egg sales, extra-large and giant-sized eggs are one of the fastest-growing Easter egg segments across the total market.
In fact, according to Mars Wrigley, Extra Large Eggs is the fastest growing egg format with a 37% value increase and 39% unit increase year on year – with these supersized shells offering shoppers the opportunity of an unforgettable gifting experience.
Helping Londis retailers to get in on the oversized act is the new 216g Snickers Extra Large Chocolate and Peanut Egg which includes two Snickers bars.
Retailers will also be able to offer their shoppers a host of other giant eggs for mini-sized prices, including just £6.99 for Twix White and Maltesers Milk Chocolates Extra Large eggs.
HOME BAKING
With their sweet gooey centres, crispy crunchy exteriors and novel colours and shapes, many Easter confectionery items also double up as ideal toppers for indulgent seasonal desserts and beautiful bakes.
Products such as the classic Cadbury Creme Egg and Cadbury Mini Eggs are perfect for topping traybakes and cakes or mixing into brownies.
GROUP EXCLUSIVES!
MALTESERS POPCORN MINI BUNNIES BAGS
Case size: 24x58g
Promotional WSP: £26.25
Promotional RSP: £1.75
POR: 25%
CADBURY MARVELLOUS CREATIONS
JELLY POPPING CANDY EGG 202G
Case size: 6x202g
Promotional WSP: £19.39
Promotional RSP: £5 POR: 22.4%
TERRY’S CHOCOLATE ORANGE EXPLODING CANDY XL EGG
Case size: 6X297g
Promotional WSP: £25.95
RSP: £6.49
POR: 20%
KIT KAT CHUNKY BISCOFF GIANT EGG 233G
Case size: 4x233g
Promotional WSP: £16.19
Promotional RSP: £6.49
POR: 25.2%
In fact, in 2024, Cadbury Mini Eggs sold 11 million more units than the year before, according to Mondelez, as shoppers snapped up the Easter staples to munch alone, and use in and on bakes, cakes and desserts.
If space allows, why not consider dual siting certain seasonal products, such as Cadbury Mini Eggs, within your home baking aisles? Just over 70% of shoppers buy Easter confectionery from a secondary location, so multi-siting clearly does pay!
And of course, sweet treats aren’t the only categories to shine over Easter.
The Easter season is also a time for bakery to shine as stores are lifted by toasty sales of key seasonal lines such as Hot Cross Buns and Simnel Cakes.
Londis retailers can offer their shoppers a tasty choice of two different buns including six-packs of Jack’s Hot Cross Buns for just £1.49 or four-packs of Bakery Select Hot Cross Buns for £1.25 – with both offering PORs of more than 25%.
As with last year, the continued squeeze on household spending is also likely to prompt many families to celebrate the long Easter weekend with meals and sharing occasions at home.
And with more shoppers choosing to buy from their local convenience stores, retailers will have a meaty opportunity to rack up strong sales across other key categories such as fresh, chilled, savoury snacks, BWS and more.
Thankfully the Londis range offers an outstanding array of choice, quality and value across all of these and more.
From stock cubes to stuffing and not forgetting Jack’s Yorkshire Puddings, Londis has everything that a shopper might need to accompany a rip-roaring roast.
In fact, during the NP2 period, Londis shoppers will be able to take advantage of an amazing value deal entitling them to a FREE pack of 12 Jack’s Yorkshire Puddings when they buy a pack of McCain Roast Potatoes.
With Londis also offering a Jack’s British Medium Whole Chicken for just £4.49 and an ‘Any 2 for £2’ offer on a range of Jack’s frozen vegetables, Londis shoppers can cook a delicious family meal for less than £10 this Easter.
So with all that said and done, it’s clear that Londis retailers have all they need to give the Easter Bunny a run for his money and get their Easter sales hopping.
Top tips for cracking Easter sales
l Be sure to have sufficient stock of seasonal selfeat and sharing favourites from well-loved brands.
l Boost shoppers’ awareness of the Easter season by making the most of campaigns, competitions and promotions, highlighting them on social media where possible.
l Use Londis and supplier POS to highlight products and optimise incremental sales.
Cracking POS
Londis retailers can add some bounce to their Easter displays with an array of engaging POS materials featuring colourful eggs and bunnies. The cheery bundle includes posters, shelf edge strips, barker ears and window stickers.
For more details, speak to your Londis RDM.
BETTER SERVICE
Products to be proud of
Help shoppers save time and money with simple and delicious meal solutions from the great quality and value Jack’s and Euro Shopper brands.
With the cost-of-living crisis still squeezing shoppers’ finances, the need for stores to offer their shoppers trusted, value for money solutions really has never been so important.
And it’s especially important for busy families with lots of mouths to feed. These shoppers are on the lookout for quick, simple, crowdpleasing meal solutions that won’t break the bank and taste great too.
Fortunately, Booker’s exclusive own label Jack’s brand is here to help, with a vast range of quality price marked products available across all the key convenience sectors; including fresh, chilled, grocery, frozen and more.
This vast range of choice means that shoppers have everything at hand to cook up quick, simple and tasty meals in minutes.
Why not check out our four Simple Recipe Ideas for your shoppers below? All four family favourites use products from the Jack’s and Euro Shopper brands - with each delivering a pocket-friendly cost per serving of less than £3.
And the best bit - all Jack’s products deliver meaty margins for retailers. In-fact, all four of the simple recipe ideas listed below offer PORs of 25% and up, with most delivering more than 30%.
SIMPLE RECIPE IDEAS
FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST
FEED THE FAMILY FOR £11.02 COST PER SERVING: ONLY £2.76
POR: 27.3%
Euro Shopper 6 Barn Eggs
Jack’s Unsmoked Back Bacon Rashers
Euro Shopper Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce
Jack’s 6 Traditional Pork Sausages
Hash Browns
SIMPLE RECIPE IDEAS CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA
FEED THE FAMILY FOR £9.03
61% of items typically bought from convenience stores are food items for home. The cost-ofliving crisis has made 68% of shoppers purchase more own label ranges at convenience stores.
Diced Chicken Breast
Long Grain Rice
Tikka Masala Sauce
SIMPLE RECIPE IDEAS
SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE
SIMPLE RECIPE IDEAS ROAST CHICKEN DINNER
FEED THE FAMILY FOR: £10.28 COST PER SERVING: £2.57
Broccoli Florets
Our store has been designed to cater to neighbourhood and transient communities and fresh and chilled is emerging as a top selling category. We are doing very well with the Jack’s range. Value is important around here and shoppers are loving the quality and value for money that Jack’s products offer, especially the fruit vegetables and grocery lines.
Sathis Poopalarigham Londis Alexandra Park, Wiltshire
Jack’s products play a starring role across all the key convenience categories - and especially in fresh produce, chilled, ambient and household; so be sure to stock up on all of the ‘Top 25’ and make the most of the sizeable opportunity that own brand products serve up.
JACK’S TOP 25 MUST STOCK PRODUCTS
YOU R CUSTOM ER S
New Pepsi Strawberries ‘n’ Cream and Cream Soda flavours WITH ZERO SUGAR
*Source: NielsenIQ RMS, Total Coverage, Flavoured & Unflavoured Cola (Britvic Defined), Value Sales, 52wks vs 2YA, Data to 23.11.24 and CGA, Total OOH, Flavoured & Unflavoured Cola (Britvic Defined), Value Sales, 52wks vs 2YA, Data to 30.09.24
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The ice cream of ice creams.
EVENT UPDATE
Retail Trade Shows
Showstopping!
Booker’s Retail Trade Shows at Sandown and Doncaster showcased its choice, price and service muscle.
Retailers from across the country flocked to the Booker Retail Trade Shows 2025 in their droves – hungry to stock up on the latest news, insights and innovations on offer – and bag a treat or two!
Live at Sandown Racecourse on Thursday 6 March and at Doncaster Racecourse on Thursday 13 March, both shows served up a spectacular spread of Booker’s choice, price and service offering – and a feast of exclusive Trade Show Only and WOW deals.
WOW deals included ‘Save £8.30’ on 6x4x568ml cases of Stella Artois, ‘Save £6.80’ on 6x4x568ml cases of Budweiser and ‘Save £17.83’ on 4x6x35cl cases of Chekov Vodka.
The shows also armed retailers with bags of advice and solutions on how to ‘Make More and Save More’ in 2025 –highlighting key opportunities such as Spend and Save, Own brand, In-store Services, In-Post lockers, Coffee Club and much more.
They also provided the perfect platform to showcase Scoot – Booker’s exclusive new home delivery app for its symbol group retailers.
The convenient new service offers retailers the chance to generate an estimated £34,000 in additional profit each year (based on weekly app sales of £2,500.)
£70.7M Sales
Retailers were also treated to a showcase of key Booker concepts and new initiatives, including the opportunity to get up close and personal with interactive food-to-go zones.
With the food to go market expected to grow to £6bn over the next five years, visitors to these vibrant zones were able to touch, taste and talk about the many footfall-driving solutions available to their stores, with Trade Show Only deals available on a variety of machines.
Did you know that stores with a good food to go offer can earn an extra £21,000 of profit per year?
Own brand opportunity: Products to be proud of
With the cost of living crisis prompting 68% of shoppers to purchase more own label products in convenience stores, visitors to the Own Brand stands were presented with four great-value meal solutions to help shoppers feed their families.
Using only Jack’s and Euroshopper products, solutions on display included a Full English Breakfast for an RSP of just £11.02, a home-cooked Chicken Tikka Masala for £9.03, Spaghetti Bolognese for £7.52 and a Roast Dinner for £10.28.
Each of the quick and simple meal solutions also generated a minimum POR of 25% for retailers.
What a fantastic day! I came here looking for inspiration and I’ve certainly not been disappointed. There are so many fantastic new products to see and try and the promotions are excellent. We’ll certainly be taking advantage of the many Trade Show Only Deals. It’s also been a great opportunity to meet fellow retailers.
Sabesan Eesan Londis Horton Heath Service Station, Southampton
Offer subject to availability from 1st April to 2nd May 2025.
classic tobacco flavour with TEREA Silver.
This material is restricted to those who are involved in the business of the sale and distribution of tobacco who are aged 18 or over. This material should not be made available to the public or sent to anyone else. IQOS is not risk free and is for adult use only.
Retailers also had a fantastic opportunity to learn more about Booker’s Exclusive own-brand ranges Jack’s and Euroshopper, including Jack’s Top 25 Must Stock Products.
With more than 100 exhibitors from across all the key convenience categories, retailers also enjoyed a rare opportunity to meet and greet a vast range of leading suppliers under one roof – and get a taste of the new products promising to sweeten their shelves and sales in 2025.
And of course, with ample seating, great views and food and drinks aplenty, both shows also provided the perfect place for retailers to meet, greet and exchange ideas with each other – as well as key Booker team members.
NPD AND GROUP EXCLUSIVES
Booker’s sterling range of New Products and Group Exclusives were also on proud display at the Retail Trade Shows 2025.
Retailers could get up close and personal with an array of new and first to market products guaranteed to give their shelves the edge this year.
Did you know that Booker launched over 40 first to market products in the last 12 months? It also launched over 40 Group Exclusives. On Display at the show were sure-fire Easter hits such as Maltesers Popcorn Mini Bunnies and Reese’s Dipped Peanuts.
What a corker!
The Londis Wine Festival is back with a barrel-load of opportunities for retailers to enjoy grape sales this summer.
Wine has long since been a powerful driver of footfall, sales and profits – and especially at this time of year, as shoppers toast the return of warmer weather and the stellar Londis Wine Festival.
Running from 28 April to 18 May, the Londis Wine Festival will once again provide retailers with an outstanding opportunity to uncork additional footfall and sales.
This year’s Wine Festival has been carefully curated to offer retailers and their shoppers an irresistible mix of deals, and everyday low prices, on top-selling wine brands from around the world.
Deals cover all key price brackets and respond to the key consumer trends that are set to fire up sales this summer.
The Wine Festival also stars a number of new products, including wines from famous faces – and Booker Group Exclusives from big-name brands, such as
Canti, which has recently launched new Pinot Grigio Rosé and classic Pinot Grigio variants.
FAMOUS FACES
Celebrity wines continue to cause a stir with shoppers and this year Londis retailers will certainly be able to make a splash – offering wines from a range of famous faces such as Graham Norton and Kylie Minogue.
The Londis Wine Festival includes a redhot deal on Graham Norton Sauvignon Blanc for just £8.99 a bottle – down from £10.49. Shoppers can also enjoy a taste of Kylie’s Rosé for the same promotional RSP of £8.99.
The latest celebrity launch to hit the convenience aisles comes from Dolly Wines – the new wine collection from global superstar Dolly Parton created in partnership with Accolade.
Cocoa
MUST STOCKS!
The top 10 brands – Isla Negra, I Heart, Hardy’s, Barefoot, Casillero, Yellow Tail, Trivento, Jam Shed, Blossom Hill and 19 Crimes – represent a 43% value share of the category so make sure you allocate enough space on your shelves to them!
TOP TIP!
Give country of origin space relative to sales to maximise your range. For example, Australia has a 24.1% share of sales but only an 11% share of space in the impulse, market according to NIQ data.
The Londis range includes Dolly’s Rosé and Prosecco – with an outstanding deal available on Dolly Rosé this Wine Festival.
SWEET PICKINGS
When it comes to flavour trends, wines with sweeter taste profiles continue to be the pick of the bunch with shoppers.
This trend lends itself perfectly to Australian and South African wines, so it’s a good idea for retailers to have a good core Australian and South African offering across each of the price brackets.
The Londis range includes a great selection of both Australian and South African wines, with some especially sweet deals to come this Wine Festival. Londis retailers will be able to offer their shoppers an outstanding RSP of just £7.49 on the South African Secretary Bird brand. The offer will apply to Secretary Bird Merlot, Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay,
DOLLY ROSÉ
Case size: 6x75cl
Sauvignon, Shiraz and Rosé.
And that’s by no means all. This Wine Festival, Londis retailers will also be able to offer their shoppers ‘Any 2 for £13’ on South Africa’s Quirky Bird brand, including Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Shiraz. A fantastic ‘Any 2 for £11’ deal will also run on the Australian Shy Pig white and blush variants – both of which will offer Londis retailers a POR of 36.7%.
KIWI WINES WINNING
With their crisp and intense fruit flavours, wines from New Zealand are also becoming increasingly popular with UK shoppers. In fact, New Zealand wines enjoyed especially merry sales over the 2024 festive period, with New Zealand white the country-of-origin leader in the Still White Wine category in the four weeks to 28 December 2024 – with value growth up 7.3% and volume growth up
Wine Festival Deal: £8.99
POR: 22.15%
FAST FACT: French rosé wine is in growth as are celebrity-endorsed wines, meaning that this new launch from global superstar Dolly Parton is sure to be a smash hit with shoppers this summer.
BOOKER GROUP EXCLUSIVE!
CANTI PINOT GRIGIO ROSÉ
Case size: 6x75cl
Wine Festival Deal: £7.49
POR: 22.59%
19 CRIMES MALBEC
Case size: 6x75cl
Wine Festival Deal: £8.49
POR: 16.40%
FAST FACT: Malbec sales are in growth, meaning that this new launch from the top-selling 19 Crimes brand should hit the spot with shoppers.
MEGA DEALS!
Londis Wine Festival 28 APRIL – 18 MAY
l Mega Deals
l New products
l Group Exclusives
l Great value sparkling brands
l Flavours to suit all palettes
The Londis Wine Festival will include Mega Deals across the top-selling 19 Crimes brand, including the new Malbec variant and on Wairau Cove Sauvignon Blanc.
19 CRIMES RED
Case size: 6x75cl
Shopper deal: £8.49
19 CRIMES REVOLUTIONARY ROSÉ
Case size: 6x75cl
Shopper deal: £8.49 POR: 16.40%
19 CRIMES SAUV BLOCK
Case size: 6x75cl
Can do!
The Londis Wine Festival also includes an array of deals on canned wines – perfect for shoppers looking to enjoy wine in more portable formats or to sample new varieties.
9.7% compared to the same period last year. The Londis Wine Festival includes a number of corking deals on New Zealand wines including a Mega Deal on Wairau Cove Sauvignon Blanc.
BUBBLING UP
Sales of sparkling wines always tend to enjoy an added lift in the summer months as shoppers make the most of the warmer weather – prompting a rise in outdoor celebrations and get-togethers.
The Londis range includes a spectacular array of sparkling wines – with some truly sparkling deals available across the price sectors.
Shoppers will be able to make the most of a truly amazing value deal on Plaza Centro Prosecco Rosé and Prosecco DOC for just £7.99 a bottle during the Londis Wine Festival.
Look out also for I Heart Bubbly – which will be on offer to shoppers for just £6.99 and I Heart Prosecco and Prosecco Rosé for £9.49.
Fizztastic deals on Freixenet will also be available including Freixenet Cordon Negro Brut for just £10.99 a bottle, offering retailers a POR of 24.49%.
And remember – cans count too. The Londis Wine Festival also includes an ‘Any 2 for £6’ deal on 20cl cans of Canti Prosecco and Prosecco Rosé, offering retailers PORs of 42.88%.
Selling vapes responsibly
It is clearly vital that all Londis retailers sell vapes responsibly – and here we present the latest advice from ACS on how to do just that.
Sitting at the very heart of the communities they serve, it’s obviously extremely important that Londis retailers take care of their customers and their communities by selling vapes responsibly.
Vaping has become a large and important category for many Londis retailers in recent years, but it can also be a challenging one and the landscape is set to change dramatically on 1st June this year when the disposable vaping ban comes into force.
More formally known as the Environmental Protection (Single-use Vapes) (England) Regulations 2024, the ban will come into force across the country as both the Scottish and Welsh devolved governments have agreed to outlaw disposable vapes on the same day.
to be sold in the UK.
All products for sale in the UK must be listed with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
To find out whether products can be sold in the UK, visit cms.mhra.gov.uk/ecig-new to check the MHRA Notified Products list.
If a product you are considering selling is not on this list, it is illegal to sell it in your store.
2 DISPOSABLES BAN
From 1st June 2025 it will be illegal for retailers to sell, offer to sell or have in their possession for sale disposable vaping products in their shop or on their website.
SELL THROUGH BY 1ST JUNE
To help you navigate the way forward and ensure that you and your team and selling vapes responsibly, we present here the latest Assured Advice from the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS).
1 SOURCING
All vaping products that you buy from Booker are fully compliant with all legal requirements. If, however, you source vaping products from elsewhere, it is vital that you check that they are legally allowed
Retailers should sell through all existing disposable vaping products before 1st June to avoid commercial loss and enforcement action. It is an offence to have disposable vaping products in your possession for sale. Any leftover disposable vaping products from 1st June must be:
l Stored in stock rooms or back offices, away from the shopfloor, and
l Clearly separated from other goods and clearly labelled as not for sale.
WHAT CAN BE SOLD FROM 1ST JUNE?
paid within 28 days of the penalty being served.
From 1st June 2025 all vaping products you sell, offer to sell or have in your possession for sale must have the following features:
MUST BE REFILLABLE
l A container that is refillable, or
l A container that is separately available and can be replaced, such as a pod system, by a user in the product’s normal course of use.
MUST BE RECHARGEABLE
l Contains a battery that can be recharged, and
l A replacement coil or a coil which is contained in a single use cartridge or pod which is separately available after purchase and can be replaced in the product’s normal course of use.
ENFORCEMENT AND RECORD KEEPING
l Stop Notices: If a business continues to engage in illicit activity, Trading Standards can issue a stop notice prohibiting a business from carrying on an activity specified in the notice, such as selling all vaping products, until the business has fulfilled the notice requirements.
l In Wales and Scotland, retailers can receive up to a level five fine and be imprisoned for up to two years.
CUSTOMER COMMUNICATIONS
ACS has produced a poster for retailers to display instore to help communicate the disposable vapes ban to customers. Visit acs.org. uk/advice/selling-vapes to download your copy.
In the event of an enforcement visit or inspection you must prove that you took ‘all reasonable steps’ and exercised ‘all due diligence’ to avoid committing an offence. Steps you can take to demonstrate this include:
l Keep records of the vape suppliers you work with and their awareness of the regulations, for example a statement on their website.
l Keep records of the stock you have received from suppliers. Examples of good documentation include invoices and receipts of purchases.
l If requested, provide all records of vape suppliers you work with and stock you hold to Trading Standards.
PENALTIES
A person found to be selling disposable vapes from 1st June 2025 is liable on summary conviction to a fine. There are a range of notices Trading Standards can issue in the event of non-compliance:
l Fixed Monetary Penalty: Trading Standards can issue a notice of intent to serve a £200 Fixed Monetary Penalty (FMP) if a business is found to be non-compliant with the law, reducing to £100 if
3 HOW TO RECOGNISE LEGITIMATE PRODUCTS
There are strict requirements for vapes that are allowed to be placed on the UK market. Check the following to ensure the products you stock are legitimate:
l Disposable vapes are not allowed to be sold from 1st June 2025.
l The maximum size of refill containers is 10ml.
l The maximum nicotine content allowed for vapes is 20mg/ml.
l Health warnings must cover 30% of the front and back of the pack. The health warning must read: THIS PRODUCT CONTAINS NICOTINE WHICH IS A HIGHLY ADDICTIVE SUBSTANCE.
l A list of ingredients must be included.
l The product must indicate the nicotine content and delivery per dose.
l A batch number must be included.
l Products must feature a recommendation to keep the product out of the reach of children.
l Offers and discounts, as well as product safety/ health claims, are prohibited on packs.
l Packaging must also contain the manufacturer or importer name and contact details.
l All vapes and refill containers must be tamperevident and have child-resistant packaging.
4 PREVENTING UNDERAGE SALES
It is illegal to sell vaping products to anyone under 18. Anyone doing so is committing an offence, and both the business owner and staff members who made the sale can be penalised.
ACS recommends the use of Challenge 25 policies for all underage sales.
ONLINE SALES
For retailers that sell vapes online through a delivery service or online ordering platform, ACS recommends conducting ID checks before any goods are delivered to a customer. More information about selling agerestricted products online is available in the ACS Assured Advice guide on Preventing Underage Sales, available from the acs.org.uk website.
5 PROXY SALES
6 ADVERTISING
Vapes and refill containers cannot be advertised or promoted, directly or indirectly on television or radio, commercial email, in magazines or newspapers, or online, including on social media (except where the media in question is trade facing only, for example trade press titles distributed to retailers). This includes posts made by the retailer themselves and posts that are sponsored or promoted by a manufacturer. Retailers selling or including product information about vapes on their websites are permitted to do so, as long as the information included about the product only contains factual claims such as ingredients, nicotine content and descriptions of product components. Visit asa.org.uk/resource/ electronic-cigarette-advertising-prohibition.html for more detailed advertising guidance.
7 VAPE RECYCLING
It is an offence for an adult to purchase nicotine inhaling products on behalf of someone under age. This is commonly called a ‘proxy sale’. You should consider adopting a common approach to identifying and preventing proxy sales across all age-restricted products.
It can be very difficult to know if an adult intends to buy an age-restricted product for or on behalf of someone who is under age. Therefore, you are only expected to act when an obvious proxy sale is taking place. More information on common scenarios that retailers may encounter when dealing with attempted proxy sales is available in the ACS Assured Advice guide on Preventing Underage Sales.
To mitigate proxy purchasing, some manufacturers might enforce product quantity limits that restrict bulk orders that may be distributed to those under age. Check and comply with manufacturer product quantity limits if they have such policies in place.
Vapes are no longer part of the Distributor Takeback Scheme (DTS). As a result, all retailers selling vapes must offer their customers a recycling bin for vaping products.
IN-STORE INFORMATION
You must make information available to customers in your stores about the vape collection service you offer and how it can be used.
ACS has produced a vape-specific template poster that you can download from tinyurl.com/bdfke2zy and use in-store.
IN-STORE TAKEBACK
You must offer to take back vapes that offer the same functions of the vapes that you sell in your store. The type of vape is determined by functionality not brand.
If you sell only one brand of vapes then it follows that you will have to accept returns of all types of vapes.
Under the WEEE regulations, the return of vapes to stores happens on a “one for one” basis. This means that you only have to take back vapes in your recycling
bin when a customer is buying an equivalent vape in your store.
You cannot charge customers for taking back their vapes. The service must be free of charge.
ILLICIT VAPES
If a customer tries to return an illicit vape to your store you can refuse to accept it.
The WEEE regulations state that electrical equipment returned must be an equivalent type and fulfil the same function as the supplied equipment (WEEE Regulations 2013 42.1).
Illicit vapes are not equivalent to the vapes you will sell and therefore should not be accepted in your recycling collection points.
STORING VAPES
Vapes should be stored in a separate container in a cool, dry place away from windows and direct sunlight, and away from other electrical and electronic equipment you store for takeback.
You can only store the used vapes temporarily, generally no longer than three months. There is no regulatory requirement for a specific vape container. Tube containers, widely used for battery collection, can be used for storing vapes, but it is recommended that vapes are stored separately from batteries and other electronic and electrical equipment.
ARRANGING COLLECTION
You must dispose of the vapes you collect in your store properly so they can be recycled. You will have to contact a provider of vape collection services to collect vapes from your store.You also need to receive and fill in a waste consignment notice which should be provided by your waste collection provider that documents the returned vapes are being taken away to be recycled responsibly.
Booker can help you put a solution in place. Please speak to your RDM for more information.
RECORD KEEPING
You need to record information about the number of vaping units you collect through takeback in-store and the number collected by your vape collection service provider.
You should estimate the number of units returned to your store before they are collected by your vape collection service provider.
Vapes can be counted, estimated by weight, or estimated by volume. You do not need to distinguish between different types of vapes, only the total number of units returned to your store and passed on to the vape collection service provider.
You need to keep all documentation you make, or are given by the waste collection provider, when you dispose of electrical and electronic waste.
Visit tinyurl.com/msx2ed48 to find a template for recording the vapes returned to your store.
Records must be kept for a four-year period.
The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) enforces the collection of vapes and other electrical products.
You can be prosecuted and get an unlimited fine if you do not comply with the regulations. You may get warning letters before enforcement action, fine or prosecutions are undertaken.
You can contact OPSS if you have any questions on compliance or suspected non-compliance via email or their telephone number below.
Email: OPSS.enquiries@beis.gov.uk
Telephone: 0121 345 1201 (Mon to Fri 9am to 5pm)
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CATEGORY UPDATE
CMA Pricing Practices Update
The Competition and Markets Authority recently completed an investigation into pricing practices and has issued official correspondence to independent retailers.
You may have seen recent press coverage about consumer pricing in symbol and convenience stores. This is a result of an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) working alongside Trading Standards.
The CMA found a number of examples of poor and misleading pricing in some symbol/convenience stores. No stores were named but the CMA is clearly concerned and are expecting Trading Standards to take particular interest in the way pricing is displayed and communicated to shoppers.
We need to let you know about this because the CMA have the power to issue fines and in the worst cases bring criminal prosecutions.
Trading Standards also has wide ranging powers to issue fines. We very much want
you as our retailers to be up to speed and not accidentally running into problems like that.
We would please request that you, as the business owner, read the guidance on the following pages.
It is really important that you ensure that all of your staff and colleagues in your business also see it, read it and understand it and that new staff are fully trained. It’s very likely that the CMA will come back to this subject in a few months to see if things have improved.
Part of the strength of the Londis brand is the great standard of in-store operations by retailers.
We thank you for reading this and taking action where it might be needed.
You must clearly display the total selling price in writing. It should be obvious to your customers what the price is, without them having to get help from a member of staff. Prices should: be clearly displayed; be easy to read; be close to the relevant product; and match what the customer is charged at the till.
Do
Do
your voice heard
Calling time on crime
There were over 6.2 million incidents of shop theft in the last year, an increase of 600,000
Every year, we release figures on the scale of crime that retailers face, going into detail on areas like shop theft, violence, abuse, fraud, and the difficulties that retailers have when reporting crime to the police.
These figures provide a benchmark for the Government, Police and Crime Commissioners, and local decision makers to understand what needs to be done to make a positive difference in communities.
Our latest Crime Report outlines the most challenging picture that we have ever seen when it comes to retail crime. Over the last year, we estimate that there were over 6.2 million incidents of shop theft, an increase of 600,000 on the previous year, and 10 times the amount of theft offences that end up being recorded by the police.
Other figures provide equally concerning reading – there were 1.2 million incidents of verbal abuse and over 59,000 incidents of violence in 2024, with 44% of these being hate-motivated. While these numbers might be shocking, it is unfortunately a window into the reality that retailers face every day.
Where in previous years we may have been focused mainly on describing the scale of the problem to Government, we now need to do more. The Crime and Policing Bill, which is currently moving through Parliament,
As crime figures spike, the introduction of the Crime and Policing Bill is an opportunity to reset the retail crime narrative, says ACS.
aims to put in place a series of additional powers and protections to support retailers and their colleagues, and we believe that the introduction of the Bill is a genuine opportunity to reset the narrative on retail crime. We must send a clear message that theft, abuse and violence committed against local shops will not be tolerated, and that prolific offenders will be brought to justice.
Retailers themselves are already starting to fight back. Last year, there were investments of over £265m in crime prevention measures as we saw retailers prioritise investing in technology and equipment such as CCTV that can be remotely monitored and shared with police, and radio headsets that ensure staff connectivity.
We saw retailers train staff on how to use this equipment, and how to react and protect themselves and customers when crimes take place. We also saw retailers invest in systems that made cash handling and dealing with customers safer.
Our Crime Report brings all of this together alongside case studies with retailers outlining strategies that actually work in communities to reduce the impact of crime.
You can read the report and our factsheets on reducing and reporting crime on our website at ACS.org.uk.
