Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) today (18) has launched a new campaign to boost awareness of Challenge25 among consumers and support colleagues in local shops selling age restricted products.
Challenge25 is a long running successful policy created to support colleagues who are doing their job by enforcing the law on age restricted sales. The policy, which urges colleagues to check for proof of age for anyone that might look 25 or under, is most commonly used for alcohol purchases but also applies to all other age restricted products like tobacco, e-cigarettes, fireworks and lottery.
ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “Local shops have a fantastic track record of preventing underage sales and promoting responsible retailing, but much of the focus on this activity is often on alcohol. Through this campaign, we’re working with retailers to highlight the importance of a robust Challenge25 policy that empowers colleagues and is consistently applied for all age restricted products.
“We know from our Crime Report that enforcing the law on age restricted sales is one of the biggest triggers of abuse in stores, so it’s essential that we provide as much support to colleagues as possible by reducing the risk of confrontation."
As part of the campaign, ACS is working with Retail of Alcohol Standards Group (RASG) to provide a range of new materials which remind customers that they’re likely to be asked for proof of age if they look under 25 and are purchasing different age restricted products. The new materials include posters, shelf edge labels and online assets on alcohol, tobacco, e-cigarettes, fireworks and lottery.
Hardish Purewal, RASG chair said: “The Retail of Alcohol Standards Group (RASG) are the creators of Challenge25 and are only too pleased to help the ACS create product specific posters to raise awareness in the convenience sector. These types of posters have proved to be a great asset in our work to clamp down on underage sales and support retail colleagues in the operation of age verification. The new C25 posters will be available on the RASG website and will continue to be free for anyone to download.”
Dan Thomson, Vice President, EMEA, Juul Labs said: “Juul Labs UK’s mission is to transition millions of British adult smokers away from combustible cigarettes, eliminate their use, and combat underage usage of our products. We are pleased to support the Association of Convenience Stores in its efforts to reinforce “Challenge 25” amongst retailers and we welcome the publication of the Assured Advice around e-cigarette sales. We require all retailers stocking JUUL products to enforce “Challenge 25” protocols and we regularly audit stores to ensure adherence with this policy. Addressing age-verification compliance remains critical in restricting underage access to tobacco products, including vapour products.”
ACS is also supporting retailers and colleagues that sell age restricted products through updates to its Assured Advice guide on Preventing Underage Sales and the launch of a new guide on E-Cigarettes, both reflecting the importance of using Challenge25 in store to greatly reduce the risk of an underage sale taking place.
