Case study: Piloting age verification solutions to strengthen youth access prevention in Austria

Preventing underage access to tobacco and nicotine-containing products is a core principle of our strategy. Our commercialization strategy incorporates responsible marketing and sales principles and practices, and end-to-end youth access prevention (YAP), starting with our own product design and development, and reaching all the way to our monitoring of the effectiveness of our youth access prevention measures, and advocating for strong regulation and enforcement.¹

While regulations governing the marketing and sale of nicotine-containing products vary across the markets in which we operate, our Marketing Codes set global standards that apply to all our commercial activities, even in markets where local laws are less strict. In some cases, certain markets may enforce even stricter local guidelines to our global Marketing Codes.² While we offer our products through both direct channels—such as our own retail stores and e-commerce platforms—and indirect channels, it is the latter that accounts for most of our sales. However, these indirect routes present unique challenges, as we do not own or control these points of sale, and thus our ability to influence youth access prevention practices is more limited.

As digital tools become more widely available and expectations around data-driven compliance increase, we are exploring how innovation can complement the measures we implement both in direct and indirect retail channels. Digital innovations, from facial recognition to digital identity authentication, offer the potential to reinforce existing controls with precise, scalable age verification that ensures products reach only age-verified adults, supporting retailers in maintaining high standards of responsible sales practices. In this context, in 2025, we launched a pilot in Austria to test technology-enabled Age Verification (AV), including a digital AV solution integrated directly into the cashier system, to evaluate how it could strengthen the enforcement of age control at the point of sale, seamlessly.

Austria as a pilot market

While PMI’s route to market typically includes a combination of direct channels and indirect retail—Austria is a particular case, where tobacco-containing products are sold through a regulated licensing system under the country’s tobacco monopoly, creating a structured indirect retail environment with clear accountability at the point of sale.^3,4 The system is administered by Monopolverwaltung GmbH (MVG), a state-owned company operating under the oversight of the Federal Ministry of Finance. At the retail level, sales take place primarily through licensed tobacconists (Tabaktrafiken), small independent shops authorized to sell tobacco products. As part of Austria’s social policy framework, these licenses are predominantly granted to people with disabilities, making tobacconist shops both a regulated retail channel and an important source of inclusive employment.

At the same time, Austria is advancing national digitalization initiatives, including the development of “ID Austria,” and is actively engaging stakeholders on the future role of digital identity solutions.⁵

This combination of regulatory clarity, engaged public authorities, and an organized retail network made Austria a suitable market to test how technology-enabled AV solutions might function in practice—not as a replacement for existing controls, but as an additional layer of support that has the potential to further strengthen enforcement of YAP.

Image: People with the Philip Morris Austria GmbH logo

Concept

Technology-enabled AV solutions are designed to support retailers in complying with minimum-age requirements in a consistent and traceable way. Therefore, our pilot’s primary objective was to demonstrate, with concrete data, our ability to prevent those under the legal age from purchasing our products through the use of digital AV at the point of sale. This would provide unprecedented proof of responsible commercialization practices and effective self-regulation.

For our pilot, we decided to set up and test for the first time in an offline retail environment, a technology-enabled AV solution that is integrated directly into the cashier system at the point of sale. When a customer attempted to purchase an age-restricted product, the system would automatically prompt an age check. This check, among other options, uses facial age estimation technology to assess, in real time, whether the customer appears to be above the legal age.

The process was designed to be seamless and privacy conscious. The facial age estimation system would analyze the customer’s facial features through a camera at the checkout, instantly estimating their age without storing any personal data or images. If the system determined that the customer appeared to be above the set age limit, the sale could proceed with the support of the cashier. However, if the system could not confidently confirm that the customer was above legal age, or if the customer preferred not to use the digital method, the cashier would then perform a manual ID check instead. In either case, the transaction could not proceed without confirmation that the AV was successfully performed. This dual-option approach ensured that the age-verification process remained both secure and respectful of customer privacy, while providing flexibility for retailers and customers alike.

Piloting the concept in retail settings

To test this solution, we launched a limited pilot, designed as a learning exercise, with the objective of understanding operational feasibility, acceptance, and regulatory considerations within everyday retail operations. The pilot focused on our own product portfolio, including cigarettes and smoke-free products. Over a two-month period, we worked with a third-party technology provider and twenty selected tobacconists, where AV, including facial age estimation, was integrated into the point-of-sale check-out process, allowing us to observe how different age-verification approaches functioned within everyday transactions. As per MVG’s recommendation, visual AV was applied for customers who appear under the age of 25, providing a margin above the legal minimum of 18 years to ensure compliance. This threshold was also applied to the digital age estimation, reflecting the technology’s inherent error margin and ensuring that individuals identified as above the set threshold could be assessed as a legal-age adult with a very high degree of confidence. Customers who could not be confidently assessed, or who appeared below the threshold, were subject to manual ID verification. Early in the pilot, we recognized that technical performance alone would not determine success; how the solution fits into retailer workflows and is experienced by adult consumers would be equally important. To reflect these considerations, the pilot tested two different approaches.

The first approach relied on automation. When age-restricted products were scanned at the cashier, the system automatically triggered a facial age-estimation scanner to assess whether the customer appeared above the age of 25. The customer then has a possibility to decline the digital face age-estimation and choose manual ID verification instead. However, if the customer agrees to utilize the digital face age-estimation, based on the outcome, the retailer could either proceed with the transaction or request manual ID verification.

The second approach emphasized flexibility. Rather than triggering automatically, the approach to AV could be initiated or adjusted by the retailer, allowing the retailer to select the most appropriate method based on the situation. The verification included visual face-to-face age-verification by the retailer (and ID check in case of doubt), particularly suitable for adult customers who often shop at the same location, or digital face age-estimation. In this model, retailers retained greater discretion over how AV was conducted, while customers could rely on familiar verification methods where needed.

What the pilot revealed

The pilot clearly demonstrated the potential of the technology to reinforce YAP by strengthening AV practices at the point of sale. In practice, the pilot showed that technology-enabled AV can support consistent application of age checks across transactions and strengthen retailer compliance with minimum age requirements. In particular, the automated approach provided strong control, ensuring full coverage of sales in scope and a robust audit trail. From a user-experience perspective, the pilot showed that the solution is intuitive and integrates seamlessly into existing checkout flows, without complicating the purchasing process for adult consumers during the retailer experience.

Nevertheless, the pilot also highlighted important complexities. Retailer concerns around consumer acceptance and privacy limited support for extending the fully automated approach beyond the pilot. While the choice-based approach was more broadly accepted by both retailers and adult consumers due to offering more flexibility and transparency, it also resulted in face-to-face age verification (with ID check in case of doubt) by the cashier remaining the predominant method in practice, amounting to 95 percent of 11,000 transactions. The pilot also highlighted structural considerations related to scalability, and the need for AV solutions to be available across all cash register units within a store. While integration with cashier systems strengthens the link between age verification and individual transactions, it also adds complexity, including system fragmentation, customization needs, and potential operational disruption at checkout.

Engaging stakeholders across the value chain

Working directly with tobacconists provided valuable insights into how technology-enabled AV can be integrated into everyday retail operations and interactions with adult consumers, without disrupting the flow at the point of sale. At the same time, retailer feedback helped identify practical considerations around implementation, including how solutions need to be adapted to different store layouts and operational routines.

Beyond the retail environment, the pilot was accompanied by engagement with a wider range of stakeholders to complement these practical insights with broader perspectives. The market authority, MVG, followed the pilot with interest and acknowledged its intent and pace, while emphasizing the importance of approaches that remain workable in practice. Public authorities, including the Federal Chancellery, viewed the pilot in the context of broader digitalization efforts in Austria, where AV technologies could potentially complement emerging ID solutions. They also highlighted the importance of privacy, consent, and workable solutions for retailers—perspectives reflected by public health stakeholders as well. Other tobacco manufacturers also followed the pilot with interest, recognizing its potential contribution to shared learning and the importance of alignment across the industry.

Looking ahead

The experience in Austria highlighted both the potential and the complexity involved in applying technology-enabled AV in retail settings—particularly indirect retail. While the pilot showed that such solutions can be integrated into everyday retail operations, it also underscored that any broader application would depend on continued adaptation and alignment across stakeholders.

At the same time, the pilot highlighted that legitimate consumer privacy considerations remain and must be addressed transparently through appropriate legal frameworks, and with careful evaluation of solution providers. Ensuring that age-verification solutions are implemented responsibly and with clear safeguards will remain essential to maintaining trust among adult consumers and retailers alike.

The pilot also reinforced that addressing youth access prevention effectively is unlikely to rely on a single solution alone. Rather, a combination of complementary and interconnected approaches—including age-verification tools at the point of sale, payment-based controls, and leveraging emerging digital identity solutions if and when available—may together provide increasing protection.

Ongoing dialogue with retailers, public authorities, technology providers, and industry peers will remain essential to ensure that future approaches are practical, respectful of consumer expectations, and workable across different retail environments and markets.

References

1. https://www.pmi.com/our-business/preventing-youth-access

2. Marketing standards | PMI - Philip Morris International

3. Austrian Office for Tobacco Coordination: https://www.tabak.gv.at/en/activity/legal-basis

4. Austrian Ministry of Finance: “Modernised tobacco laws bring better health and youth protection”

5. https://www.bundeskanzleramt.gv.at/en/agenda/digitalisation/digitised-austria/id-austria.html