INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Juul Labs, the e-cigarette behemoth partially owned by Altria, has today announced a new POS age-verification system that it will require
all Juul retailers to comply with by May 2021.The Retail Access Control Standards program, or RACS for short, raises the standard for
age-restricted POS systems, automatically locking the POS each time a Juul product is scanned until a valid, adult ID is scanned
The system also looks for bulk purchases (four four-count packs of Juul Pods is the legal limit for a single transaction) and locks when the
represents 40,000 outlets, have committed to switching over to RACS, with 7,000 stores in the process of switching now and 15,000 to have
The deadline for switching over to the RACS system is May 2021, at which point Juul will only sell its products to RACS-compliant
retailers.The company recognizes that overhauling a POS can be costly and difficult, and is offering $100 million+ in incentives to
retailers that switch over
For retailers with newer POS systems, the switch might only require a software update, while others may need to update their hardware, as
After an ID is scanned, all personal information is automatically deleted from the system, which means that bad actors/unauthorized
resellers could amass a bulk amount of Juul products by visiting various stores or returning to the same store multiple times.However, this
is likely just the beginning for the RACS program, which for the first time gives Juul much more control around how their products move
through the market, ultimately limiting the opportunity for Juul products to end up in the hands of minors.Alongside the introduction of
RACS, Juul is also expanding the Track - Trace program it piloted in April in the Houston area.Track - Trace allows teachers, parents, law
enforcement and otherwise responsible adults to log the serial number of confiscated Juul devices, giving Juul the information it needs to
then specifically target those stores and shut down the illegal sale of Juul devices to minors.Today, Track - Trace is expanding nationwide
in the U.S.While these are major steps in combating underage use of Juul products, the company itself admits that it believes youth vaping
growth in youth use of vapor products in the U.S
passed in a dozen states but had not been implementedLittle to no category-wide actions have been taken as FDA is finalizing its guidance
It included the ban of flavored Juul pod sales in convenience stores and other Juul-approved retailers, limiting the sale of non-tobacco and
non-menthol flavored pods to its online storefront
Juul says this represented 50% of its revenue at the time
The company also took down its Facebook and Instagram pages, and revamped its Twitter to ditch any promotional or marketing content from the
sale of counterfeit and infringing products, which may include dangerous and/or unknown chemicals
The company hired former Apple employee Adrian Punderson to help lead the fight against counterfeits
As of December 2018, Juul was reportedly valued at $38 billion, estimated to own more than 70% of the e-cig market.
