The convenience sector is still grappling with the fallout from last year’s disposable vape ban, with sales and footfall under pressure, new data shows.
According to specialist convenience insight agency Talysis, retailers are seeing fewer store visits alongside an 8% fall in the value of tobacco and smoking alternatives compared to last year.
As a result, the category’s share of the convenience market has slipped by 2.1 percentage points to 30.3%.
While most of the decline has come from traditional cigarettes and tobacco, the disposable vape ban means vaping is no longer replacing lost sales, according to Talysis.
The data showed the vaping category is now in decline itself, with value sales down 12.7% year on year and unit sales falling by 20.8%.
It has also revealed retailers are losing out from format changes. Previously, customers were paying £5 to £6 for one 2ml vape, but can now buy two 2ml pods for the same price, resulting in “a double whammy” of reducing store footfall as well as retailer income.
This is further compounded by the ‘big puff’ kits. Compared to the previous disposable 2ml vapes, consumers can pay twice as much for the 12ml kit while receiving 500% more liquid.
Retailer woes are also being hampered by more complex and time-consuming merchandising and stock control. Retailers now must stock a wider range of vapes to cover both new and refill sales, whilst Talysis data has also revealed over 2,000 new vape barcodes were introduced in 2025 alone.
The findings come from Clarity by Talysis, which is based on weekly EPoS data from thousands of UK independent and symbol group convenience stores.
“The heavy reliance on the overall tobacco category within convenience means the disposable vaping ban has had a disproportionate effect compared to other sectors,” said Talysis MD Ed Roberts. “Clarity has laid bare that there are multiple aspects for stores to deal with, during an already challenging time in the sector.
“Whilst the need to reduce single-use plastic is clear, it’s also obvious this ban hasn’t worked as intended yet. The new formats haven’t discouraged consumption – arguably they’ve done the opposite – and there is still a vast proportion of consumers who are treating reusables as disposables, as indicated by the 1.5 million big and small-puff reusable vapes that are sold week in, week out.
“Vaping appears to have gotten cheaper, at least in the short-term. Whether or not the incoming duty will have an effect remains to be seen. But manufacturers would do well to realise how important they are to this vital sector. A 21% drop in unit sales, for a category that represented strong turnover and drove regular footfall, is a huge hit for stores.”
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