Want some opinions on why B&M stores don't carry ecigs

[whodat1]

I'm kinda curious why brick & mortar stores don't carry ecigs. I'm not talking about mall kiosks with the sell for 2 months and get rich quick, but more along the lines of 501/808 items. I would think that tobacco stores would sell them to capture some of the market they are losing.

Is the margin on these too low for a B&M? Are they worried the FDA might jump in and regulate them away?

I'd like to see what you all think is the reason you don't see these in stores. I know the price would be more than online (like anything else), but it would be nice if you needed a battery or something in a hurry.

 

[hippiebrian]

I think the market may be just a bit small right now. That being said, 7-11 now stocks them, and I've heard they aren't that bad. I also think that the on line experience with a lot of vaping sites (I prefer mad vapes, but there are a lot of good ones) has been so positive that I probably wouldn't even consider going to a brick and mortar store. I get my supplies usually within 3-4 days, so no biggie!

 

[julie78]

That being said, 7-11 now stocks them, and I've heard they aren't that bad!

Actually, they aren't that bad, but only for a few days. I have the Xhale O2 from 7-11, and the first one that I had gotten, stopped working, so I had to buy another one. I recommend this brand ONLY for people who want to try it out and see if it's worth it, to them. Otherwise, steer clear!

 

[cskent]

If you just look around you'll see some PV's in a few stores. One local pharmacy sells some disposeable kits, another has some single battery 510 kits. The 510's are a bit overpriced, but they're decent units. When I go into a store that sells tobacco I look around to see if they've got any e-cigs for sale. Sometimes you have to look hard to find them, but there's more of them around than you'd think.

 

[ctourtelot]

There are a lot of places around here that carry e-cigs, but only one e-cig B&M store. I worked in that store for a year and business was pretty steady, but the website business was still carrying the cost of the store. As far as I know they are going to move to a new location this summer which should help.

When you add rent, utilities, licenses, taxes, wages, insurance, etc you either need a lot of business or a high margin to keep your head above water.

It costs nothing to stick up an Njoy display at the counter.

 

[schaedj]

Too risky, and a lack of quality suppliers. Everyone knows about the FDA's ongoing battles, lots of state and local legislators are loudly pushing bans, the famous "What about the children?" speeches, etc. They can't market it as a stop smoking product, and there's no standardization in the industry. 7-11 is pretty advanced on this. Pilot truck stops were the first early adopters (NJOY products) and got burned when the FDA clamped down on shipments. Add to that the $75+ price tag for a starter kit, which puts it out of the range of a standard impulse buy, and you have a "must miss" scenario for B&M stores. To open up the B&M market, you need a solid razor / razorblade strategy (which will only fly if people can afford the starter kit, and there is a significant profit margin on the carts) or mass produced disposables (which have to work nearly as well as a reusable unit, but for a fraction of the cost). Either that, or the FDA officially accepting them as a tobacco product, with the associated regulatory controls, which would launch them into B&M stores like a rocket.