Tobacco | Vape
Vape Keeps Beating the Odds Despite a challenging 2020, vape sales have persevered. The National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), in conjunction with several other retail associations, has called on the federal agency to release the list so c-stores can be in compliance by pulling the MDO products. At the moment, the FDA cites confidential commercial information concerns as reason for not disclosing the information. Rather, it recommends retailers confer with manufacturers for their MDO specifics. “The FDA’s repeated bungling of vaping product regulation has made it incredibly difficult for industry transformation to be anything more than a tagline,” said Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association. He also expressed concerns that healthy state budgets could embolden more lawmakers to push for flavor bans because coffers aren’t as reliant on tobacco tax revenue right now. “Congress has allocated more than $500 billion to state and local governments in the last year because of COVID-19, with little in the way of restrictions on how that money can be used,” said Conley. “As a result, total bans on the sale of all flavored tobacco and nicotine products, including menthol cigarettes, could take further hold in the Northeast and states like Colorado and Oregon.”
SALES TREND UPWARD
of marketing for Englefield Inc. The While legislators and industry family-owned company runs 119 leaders battle on these issues, stores Duchess c-stores throughout Ohio continue to appreciate the fact that and West Virginia. this nicotine subcategory keeps post“We followed customer trends and ing gains. IRI recorded nearly $6 bilintroduced some new brands and lion from sales of electronic smoking options for our customers,” he added. devices in c-stores for the 52 weeks “New introductions, like BIDI Sticks, ending Dec. 26, 2021, representing an contributed to 3% of the sales growth almost 18% gain. Volume also posted in this category.” double-digit growth. For now, category managers find “While the cigarette category themselves in the all-too-familiar may be declining, vape and OTP is position of waiting to see if additional increasing due to a myriad of tobacco federal regulation will disrupt the options for the customer. For instance, vape/e-cigarette segment again. Until we saw a 54% increase in Vuse in then, they hope vape sales will follow 2021,” said Nathan Arnold, director the current profitable pattern.
Vape Sales Soar Dollar sales of electronic smoking devices increased 17.9%, and unit sales grew 13.7% for the 52 weeks ending Dec. 26, 2021. Dollar Sales
Product Electronic smoking devices
Unit Sales
Price per Unit
Current
1-Year % Change
Current
1-Year % Change
Current
1-Year Change
$5.93 B
17.9%
434 M
13.7%
$13.65
$0.48
Source: IRI Market Advantage - TSV Total U.S. Convenience data for the 52 weeks ending Dec. 26, 2021
94
CSTORE DECISIONS •
March 2022
cstoredecisions.com
