Retail trade incentives: how tobacco industry practices compare with those of other industries.

Objectives: This study compared the incentive payments for premium shelf space and discounts on volume purchases paid to retailers by 5 types of companies.

Methods: Merchants were interviewed at 108 randomly selected small retail outlets that sell tobacco in Santa Clara County, California.

Results: Significantly more retailers reported receiving slotting/display allowances for tobacco (62.4%) than for any other product type. An average store participating in a retailer incentive program received approximately $3157 annually from all sampled product types, of which approximately $2462 (78%) came from tobacco companies.

Conclusions: Future research should assess the impact of tobacco industry incentive programs on the in-store marketing and sales practices of retailers.