The context
JUUL Labs’ ongoing commitment in Russia is to prevent the use of its products by anyone who is under 18, as it not only complies with local regulations but goes above and beyond to ensure industry-leading responsible practices. As of today, the sale of electronic nicotine-containing products to minors is prohibited in 36 of the 85 regions of Russia.
“As of today, the sale of electronic nicotine-containing products to minors is prohibited in 36 of the 85 regions of Russia. Our internal researches show that more than half of retailers are unaware of any legal restrictions existing on the e-cigarettes trade” – Viktor Ukrainsky, General Manager at JUUL Labs in Russia
“Our target audience is adult smokers, and only adult smokers. In addition to our mission, that is to help smokers get rid of traditional cigarettes, we are taking uncompromising measures to protect minors from accessing our products. Checking the age of customers to make sure they are over 18 years old is a prerequisite for JUUL Labs working with stores in all countries where our products are sold. In case of a single violation of this requirement by a seller, we carry out explanatory work; repeated violations are followed by commercial sanctions up to the suspension of deliveries to the POS”
The challenge
Within the framework of the project, “mystery shoppers” among BeMyEye agents will check on a monthly basis all PoS where JUUL Labs products are sold throughout Russia. At the first stage, the project will cover 6,000 stores in million-plus cities. Adult mystery shoppers who are over 18 but look younger will participate in the audit, to ensure retail partners verify their age correctly. They will capture the purchase process for JUUL products through audio recordings. Evidence of violation will be a receipt for the sale of an electronic device or a replacement cartridge without the seller requesting to see a passport.
KPIs
– Compliance with distribution agreements
Categories
– E-Cigarettes
Channels
– Tobacco shops
– Vape shops
– Modern trade
Fields
– 6,000+ visits in Russia
The results
“We are pleased to support JUUL Labs in the implementation of its project to control the age of customers. In retail, research aiming at identifying breaches of agreements such as an untimely launch of a promotion or inconsistencies with the planogram have become mainstream; but studying reputational aspects in the relationship between the supplier and the retailer is a new trend with great potential, ” – Kirill Nepomnyashchy, Managing Director at BeMyEye Russia.
Thanks to our end-to-end solution JUUL Labs has achieved:
Monitoring execution of agreements by the retailers
Protecting the brand mission and reputation
Historical tracker of in-store KPIs (from year to year, from wave to wave)
Details of every KPI
The content of this page has been built based on the following press release:
JUUL Labs will send “mystery shoppers” to thousands of stores in Russia
