Recent developments in Scotland have seen the government making efforts to ‘crack down’ on alcohol abuse. As a result, they have banned all two-for-the-price-of-one sales. Grocery stores see this as a direct attack on their profits and some have joined ranks with the big guys, like Tesco, to circumvent the rules through the internet.
This has set off a great deal of controversy as to whether or not Tesco is breaking any laws. Some are saying that supermarkets are now nothing more than modern-day smugglers and they are using underhanded ways to smuggle cheap alcohol across the border from the England to Scotland.
The law in Scotland is actually aimed at, as mentioned above, tackling the drinking problem and the way it is intended to work is to discourage cheap and bulk alcohol to consumers in Scotland. This means whether the alcohol is purchased in Scotland, or shipped in via internet shopping.
Unfortunately, all along the wording in the regulations left internet delivery of cheap alcohol open. As Tesco has stores elsewhere besides Scotland, they are still selling the bulk rate drink online and then shipping it from a store other than from a location in Scotland.
In fact, a spokesperson for Tesco did come forward stating that this was within their rights and that they would continue to allow internet sales of cheap drink for the Scottish consumer. At a time when inflation is skyrocketing, Tesco sees this as one way to hit back at prices gone out of their control.
On the other hand, government has vowed to watch the development of internet alcohol sales in Scotland even though they believe internet sales accounts for a very small portion of total sales at the moment. If it becomes an increased problem they will look at taking further action to stop cheap booze being shipped into Scotland from internet based orders.
