EVENTS
Convenience stores keen
to capitalise on vaping
By Gordon Stribling
The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) annual forum brought
guests and industry experts together to discuss the many challenges
and opportunities facing the vaping sector. Among the talks on
entrepreneurship, regulations and CBD, the increasing role of
supermarkets and convenience stores was a common theme.
‘C-stores’ were for a long time the entry point for smokers to tentatively
experiment with cigalikes. But while specialist shops owned by
passionate former smokers now make up the lion’s share of the high
street vaping sector, convenience stores are beginning to step up.
People are visiting C-stores less frequently, panellist John Lee of
the Scottish Grocers Association explained. There is a need for the
humble corner shop to diversify in the face of an ever-changing high
street and customer demographics. For the past few years, vaping
has been explored as a potentially lucrative source of income.
But floorspace is at a premium. Retailers are keen to get products
onto the shop floor either as a separate franchise or large display,
but not necessarily at the expense of, for example, increasingly
popular food-to-go.
The panellists also discussed whether retailers could feasibly help
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vapers beyond the initial transition from smoking by introducing
them first to a pod-style starter kit and then helping them progress
on to a sub-ohm device. This would take extensive staff training
and could slow down the transaction process.
But for every tentative comment was a positive one.
Josh Clifton of HIM Shopper noted that older people tend to spend
more time in C-stores than younger people, which presents retailers
with the opportunity to reach a relatively untapped market.
This sentiment was echoed by health psychologist Sairah Salim-
Sartoni of JUUL during a panel discussion on how the industry
can support the UK’s struggling stop smoking services.
But as John Lee of the Scottish Grocers Federation noted, store
owners already have a relationship with tobacco industry reps which
could prove a challenge for small independents hoping to enter
the space.
Meanwhile, the Vapreneurs panel chaired by Ellie Rasmussen of
the Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum (GTNF) discussed how
retailers could use the impending menthol cigarette ban as an
opportunity to introduce their customers to vaping.