STOPTOBER

SMOKING CESSATION: TOBACCO ALTERNATIVES

AS THE SMOKE CLEARS

NEW DATA FROM THE OFFICE OF NATIONAL STATISTICS HAS SHONE A LIGHT ON SMOKING PREVALENCE AROUND THE UK. THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT THE NUMBER OF SMOKERS IS FALLING, AND THE ANNUAL STOPTOBER EVENT IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR LOCAL RETAILERS TO DRIVE IT DOWN FURTHER.

There has long been a large dose of healthy rivalry between the home nations, particularly around sports like football and rugby. However, there is one non-sporting title that England has never been in the running for – and there’s nothing healthy about it.

Scotland has long held the dubious privilege of being the smoking capital of the UK but in a little publicised development during the summer, Northern Ireland puffed its way to the top – with Wales a close second.

According to the latest data published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), the proportion of over- 18s in Northern Ireland who smoked in 2019 stood at 15.6%. The figures for Wales and Scotland were 15.5% and 15.4% respectively. So, you can barely separate the three nations with a cigarette paper. England sits further back at 13.9%.

The ONS survey put the overall UK figure at 14.1% and the good news is that this number has been consistently falling every year since data was first collected in 2011, when it stood at 20.2%.

Next month’s annual Stoptober campaign is a chance for local retailers to help drive the figure down further by shifting smokers onto nicotine products that a lot less harmful than burning tobacco. In an ideal world, smokers would quit completely but this is easier said than done, hence the growing number of options available to retailers help move shoppers away from tobacco.

VAPING

Vaping is widely regarded as one of the most efficient ways of transitioning shoppers out of cigarettes and roll-your-own and, as Public Health England repeatedly reiterates, vaping is 95% safer than smoking tobacco.

The category is now reasonably well established, and most stores will offer at least a basic range, often from the biggest brands like Logic, blu, JUUL and Vype; the inexorable shift towards ‘pod mod’ systems seems clear. There are still many vapers who prefer their big ‘mods’ and creating their own concoctions at home but new legislation and pure convenience means that more and more shoppers are looking for a simpler ‘click and play’ solution that involves a minimum of fuss and mess.

The options for local retailers are basically twofold: stock a good basic range that will cater for most vapers, or go all in and become ‘famous’ for vaping in the local area by stocking a much wider range of products, including devices, liquids and accessories.

It’s a complicated category however, so going ‘all in’ requires a fair bit of research and a lot of training. Buying a new pack of pods for a JUUL device or a Logic unit is a straightforward transaction, but dealing with complex queries from shoppers around subohm mods, shortfills, drippers, coils and much more requires a greater degree of commitment to making the category work in-store.

The key to success is training but there’s plenty of support available.

However, the bad news for the vaping category is that its growth has effectively stalled. The ONS put the number of UK vapers at nearly three million, or 5.7% of the population. There has been no real rise since 2016, when the figure stood at 5.6%.

The Menthol Ban in May should have given a boost to vaping and other nicotine replacement categories although, at this early stage, it doesn’t appear to have had as dramatic an effect as many had predicted, or hoped.

Heat-not-burn is one such category which, despite being very popular in Japan, hasn’t quite taken off here yet. The market leader is the IQOS device, the result of a research and development programme that burnt a $4.5bn hole in the pocket of Philip Morris International.

POUCHES

One newish category that could prove interesting to retailers now and in the near future is nicotine pouches. These are popular in other parts of the world, particularly Scandinavia, and offer extreme convenience in that they can be used anywhere, anytime – including in places where vaping is off limits like on public transport, at the office or even behind the till.

Smoke- and tobacco-free, nicotine pouches have shown to be extremely popular with the single biggest challenge being how to encourage shoppers to give them a try.

The brand making the biggest headway in nicotine pouches is Nordic Spirit from JTI, the runaway leader.

Launched into the UK just over a year ago, the product has found a solid base of users and is set to grow further with a recent relaunch and rebrand and launch of a new flavour, Elderflower.

The new line joins existing variants Mint and Bergamot Wildberry. All three are available in 6mg and 9mg strengths, with an RSP of £6.50 for 20 pouches.

Key changes to the design include enlarging the brand name, in particular ‘Nordic’, to emphasise the product’s deep connection to its Swedish heritage. Additionally, the varying strengths are now represented with four hexagons in line with other products in the category for consistency and ease for the customer.

Stephane Berset, JTI’s UK Head of Marketing, comments: “Since its launch in 2019, we have seen Nordic Spirit go from strength to strength as more adult smokers and vapers look for alternative nicotine products.”

Berset says the rapidly evolving category, already worth £380,410 a month, presents a “huge” profit opportunity.

GET SOCIAL

To squeeze some benefits out of Stoptober month, retailers need to shout about it to the shoppers and the easiest way of doing that is on social media.

You could run a campaign incentivising your shoppers to try giving up tobacco next month and remind them of the alternative solutions you have available.

As well as helping your shoppers improve their health, a social media campaign like this could also help simply draw attention to the fact that you stock a vaping and nicotine replacement range so that shoppers who have already quit know that they can get what they need at your store.

Stoptober is a great opportunity for you to engage with community, demonstrate that you care about their health and wellbeing, and also shift them into higher margin products that will still drive footfall levels similar to tobacco products.

JUUL LAUNCHES RICH TOBACCO

JUUL Labs has recently added a new tobacco flavour to its JUUL pods range to offer adult UK smokers a wider range of alternatives to combustible cigarettes.

Rich Tobacco JUUL pods replicate the taste profile of Virginia tobacco, the blend found in 93% of factory made cigarettes sold in the UK.

Packs of four pods are available now in 18mg/ml nicotine strength at an RSP of £10.99.

The new flavour is the first launched in newly updated JUUL pods branding, featuring redesigned packaging and graphics, which will roll out across the JUUL pods range over the coming months.

Rich Tobacco is the latest addition to JUUL’s UK portfolio of flavours, which includes Glacier Mint, Menthol, Mango Nectar, Golden Tobacco and Alpine Berry.