A Study By The University Of Edinburgh in The UK Shows That The Sales Of E-cigarettes in Convenience Stores Have Increased Ninefold in Three Years, And The Profits Are Four Times That Of Tobacco

A study by the University of Edinburgh in the UK shows that the sales of e-cigarettes in convenience stores have increased ninefold in three years, and the profits are four times that of tobacco

A British study shows that the sales of e-cigarettes in British convenience stores have surged ninefold in three years, and the profits of convenience stores are four times that of tobacco. The proportion of tobacco sales has dropped significantly, and e-cigarettes have become a new profit growth point for convenience stores.
According to AOL on January 8, a study showed that the sales of e-cigarettes in the UK have increased ninefold in three years, bringing four times the profits of tobacco to convenience stores.

Data analyzed by the University of Edinburgh in September 2022 showed that the average profit of convenience stores selling e-cigarettes was 37.1%, while that of tobacco products was 8.5%. During this period, the number of transactions involving e-cigarettes per convenience store per week also surged from 10 in 2019 to 93 in 2022, a nine-fold increase in three years.

Researchers observed that e-cigarette sales may continue to grow among small retailers since 2022. Data shows that customer traffic with tobacco as the main purchase has decreased by nearly 40% compared with nearly a decade ago.

In 2015, Action for Tobacco Control Health (Ash) conducted a similar analysis, with about 21% of transactions involving tobacco, but this proportion fell to 12.8% by 2022. Data from the UK Office for National Statistics showed that the proportion of British adults who smoked also fell from 16% to 12% from 2016 to 2023.

The study pointed out that the switch of existing smokers to e-cigarettes could bring potential benefits to small retailers, and the importance of tobacco sales to these businesses has gradually declined. The high profits of e-cigarettes also highlight the need to establish a retail licensing system to crack down on irresponsible sellers and protect legal retailers.

Jamie Pearce, professor of health geography at the University of Edinburgh, said, "Our analysis shows that convenience stores rely only on tobacco for 10% of their profits, and if customers switch to other products, stores will benefit more. In the occasional overlap between commercial and public health interests, the fewer people buy tobacco, the better for everyone." "Ash" CEO Hazel Cheeseman said, "The decline in tobacco sales is good for national health and convenience stores because the profits that convenience stores make from selling tobacco are decreasing. At the same time, the surge in e-cigarette sales is even more beneficial to retailers. Responsible retailers who have already profited from e-cigarettes should welcome regulations to improve the market, reduce the appeal to children, and crack down on illegal vendors."