Exclusive: Approach complies with law but some workers question whether it contradicts standing as ‘ethical’ retailer
The Co-op has quietly told staff to boost promotion of vapes in an effort to win back customers and sales after a devastating cyber-attack.
The ethical retailer is making vapes more prominent in stores via new displays and additional advertising, according to an internal document seen by the Guardian. It is also stocking a bigger range of vapes and nicotine pouches.
The action plan is to tackle a big sales drop after the April hack that resulted in gaps on its shelves.
Called Powering Up: Focus Sprint: Cigs, Tobacco and Vape, the document says: “Sales haven’t recovered compared to pre-cyber.” In a section headed “Why we need to focus on this category?”, it says there are “£1m missing sales per week” and 100,000 fewer transactions.
