Ready to retail in a smoke-free England? That’s the ambitious objective set by the government in 2019 in an effort to extend people’s life expectancy. And thanks to the rise of smoking alternatives, c-stores could have a central role in helping make it happen. Plus, there’s also the opportunity to tap into some impressive sales as ciggies finally disappear into the sunset.
“There is no doubt that competition in the smoke-free category is heating up,” says Kate O’Dowd, head of commercial planning UK & Ireland at Philip Morris Limited, which manufactures IQOS heated tobacco and Veeba disposable vapes.
“The race to switch adult smokers to alternative products between convenience retailers and large multiples, or the speed by which manufacturers and their brands are developing and commercialising the most innovative products to meet growing demand.”
The firm recently commissioned The Big Switch report, which found that a third of all convenience store owners in England would stop the sale of cigarettes in favour of smoke-free products to help adult smokers switch.
The analysis, conducted by KAM and Lake Research, revealed that 59% of store owners consider the smoke-free category ‘the future of sales’, while almost half (47%) of store owners believe they could be more involved in helping adult smokers switch to smoke-free alternatives.
Constant innovation in the smoke-free category, and society’s changing attitude towards cigarettes, means retailers are pushing at an open door. 2019 research from Public Health England showed that around 60% of smokers already wanted to quit, 10% of whom wanted to do so in the next three months. Smokers with this mindset may well make their first port of call their local convenience store.
“We’ve had times when we’ve had a good 30-minute to an hour chat with people about vapes and their choices,” says Amit Puntambekar from Ash’s Shop in Fenstanton.
“We find out how much they’re smoking and then suggest a few options. So now, we would say: ‘try a disposable and see how it goes’. Then, we might suggest the [Liberty Flights’] Dot system.”
The store has also hosted a Liberty Flights vape specialist in-store offering free samples of the Dot Pro system (pictured), which is a pod-based vape starter kit.
”If a customer wants to get even more involved, we might suggest they get their own tank and put liquids in, to save them money in the long run.”
“So the long-term journey for a smoker in our store might be: disposables, pod systems and then a tank.”
That initial chat might cover the reasons why the wannabe non-smoker wants to try smoking alternatives. According to public health charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) the main reasons given by ex-smokers for vaping are to help them quit and prevent relapse. For current smokers their main reason is to cut down on cigarettes. What’s more, the cost-of-living crisis, and the rising cost of tobacco, are also big drivers in 2023.
Once you’ve listened to what they have to say, moving them to the correct products is essential.
Stats show forty-five per cent of adult smokers abandoned previous attempts at quitting smoking because the alternative product wasn’t right for them (PMI). So while Amit counsels not wasting store space with four or five different systems (which can confuse shoppers and cannibalise your profits) your range still has to meet shoppers’ needs.
When Amit first took over the business he was impressed by the high margins in vape and so invested in the Flights system to develop the category. He started sales slowly, educating customers and staff as he went.
He says that the further in the vaping journey you go, the more knowledge you need. For example, making sure coils in tanks have enough liquid in and ensuring parts of the system are replaced regularly. This all requires retailers to have the right info to pass to the shopper.
So how do you get that knowledge in the first place?
Working closely with suppliers on education is a great start.
“Liberty Flight gave us a really good understanding of the different systems, including getting the right range, and even how to solve basic issues – like stopping products locking when they were left in a pocket,” says Amit.
Today’s consumers are much more savvy on the category than in the early days of e-liquids and tanks. The number of people vaping in England more than doubled to 8.6% in 2022, compared to 4% in 2021, according to recent data from the Office of Health Improvement and Disparities. And as numbers grow so does awareness.
However, what’s really changed the vaping game is the massive growth of disposables, with 52.8% of current vapers using them in 2022, compared with 7.8% in 2021 [ibid]. Amit says that their success has sent sales soaring “beyond anyone’s wildest expectations.” Plus, when it comes to giving advice, customers already know the basics.
“A lot of the education that’s happening [around disposables] is by social media and word of mouth,” says Dee Sedani from One Stop, Derbyshire.
“When you think about it, there’s been no huge ads on the side of buses or anything, the category’s come out of nowhere and just exploded. It has grown along with awareness because it’s such strong word of mouth. There are people that used to smoke who will never pick up a pack of cigarettes again because of disposables – and that’s a positive thing.”
Dee says that because of the word-of-mouth factor “customers educate themselves” on the disposable category. He adds that taste is key to unlocking it, so it’s about interacting with consumers about which flavours are available, and the combinations possible within certain systems.
“With disposables, the retailers don’t really need much knowledge,” adds Amit. “That’s the real beauty of it. Customers already know the brands that they want. Disposables have helped break down those initial barriers, because now we’ve got our disposables on the floor. So what people tend to do now is just go and grab what they want.”
Despite this, your staff still need to know what they’re talking about on vapes.
“You’ll still get customers asking for asking about the different disposables, and the differences between them,” says Amit.
The fast-moving nature of smoking alternatives means that retailers have to keep their ears to the ground as the category evolves.
“With manufacturers bringing better products to market and more retailers than ever before broadening their smoke-free offering, I truly believe we can help millions of adult smokers make a better choice,” says O’ Dowd.
Yet however sophisticated the products, success all comes down to customer relationships.
After all, along with category advice, customers might also need a little moral support. Giving up smoking can be tough, and retailers are in a unique place to check on their progress and will them on to a healthier future.
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