Download the full synopsis here

Publishing: 14 February

Advertising deadline: 30 January

Submissions deadline: 23 January

Contact Ronan Hegarty (ronan.hegarty@wrbm.com )

The Story

The E revolution is gathering pace. Sales of electronic cigarettes have surged by almost 50% in the supermarkets in the past year, as rules governing their advertising have been relaxed and the number of retailers stocking such products has soared. But are grocers fully realising the opportunity? How does their growth compare to that of online and specialist channels? What more can supermarkets do to drive growth? And what kind of product is driving most growth at present, disposables or re-useable products?

Key themes

Retail channels : Which channels are making the most of the E Revolution? With supermarket sales standing at around £120m, are other channels (online, specialist, etc) winning at present? What else can grocers do to drive growth? And how do different retailers and channels’ approaches to the selling of E-cigarettes and related products differ?

Brands : This feature will explore in detail which brands have enjoyed the strongest growth as the e-cigarette market has continued its evolution from a niche, internet-based business into the mainstream in recent years. How have they used factors like NPD, promotions and advertising to maintain growth? Which brands have been at the vanguard of the market’s move into mainstream, bricks & mortar retailers?

Advertising : According to our research, the 10 biggest e-cig brands forked out almost £14m. Following the relaxation of rules governing the advertisement of e-cigs, since October brands have been able to advertise on TV. So who’s advertising? How and where? What rules now govern the market? How much are brands looking to spend in 2015? How important will ads become?

Formats : This feature will explore which formats are driving the greatest growth and dominating the market at present, looking at everything from disposable and holder/refill formats through to the more unusual and niche products such as e-cigars and flavoured vaporiser products based on Turkish Hookah pipes.

Innovation : This will be key to this feature. We’ll be investigating how successful recent innovation has been and exploring what’s in store for the next year. We will profile four of the most interesting NPDs in a separate panel.

Retail channels : This feature will explore in detail how players are looking to target different retail channels through their approach to factors such as pack formats, specific products, merchandising and promotions.

Price : This feature will also explore the importance of price in this market, paying particular attention to whether we are likely to see tiering similar to that which the tobacco market has seen.

Key questions the feature is likely to address:

  • What consumer trends have impacted the category over the past year? 
  • How have individual retailers’ strategies impacted the market? 
  • How has merchandising changed in the market?
  • What’s next for the category?

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