Focus on e-cigarettes and vaping: 10 February

Focus on e-cigarettes and vaping by Daniel Selwood

Download the synopsis here

Publishing: 10 February

Advertising deadline: 29 January

Submissions deadline: 22 January

The Story

Who said the high street was dead? In the world of vaping, supermarkets are losing out to smaller, specialist shops. It’s still a viable category for grocers – volumes were up 5.5% over the past year and £164m worth of sales went through the tills. So what does the future hold for the e-cigarette market? And can grocers carve out growth?

Key themes:

Vaping shops: Specialist vape stores are taking the lion’s share of the e-cigarette and vaping market. Why is this and how can supermarkets fight back?

Legislation: The EU regulations around e-cigarettes finally came into force at the tail end of 2016. Suppliers must now limit the amount of nicotine in e-cigarettes and vaping products to less than 20mg/ml and ensure cartridges contain less than 2ml of liquid, while refill containers must contain less than 10ml. How has this impacted on sales? Have any brands lost out/benefitted from these tighter controls?

Innovation: It’s been a mixed picture for brands over the past year. Why is this? Is it down to innovation and if so, what are the standout products?

Key questions the feature is likely to address:

 What consumer trends have impacted the category over the past year?

 How have promotional strategies (both in terms of price and marketing) evolved?

 How have individual retailers’ strategies impacted the market?

 How has merchandising changed in the market?

 What impact has own-label had on branded players?

 What’s next for the category?