“
AS THE POOL OF NEW
VAPERS SLOWLY DRIES
UP, VAPE SHOPS UP AND
DOWN THE COUNTRY
WILL BE RELYING ON
REPEAT CUSTOMERS.
THIS IS WHERE SOME
SHOPS WILL FALL ON
THEIR SWORD
COLUMNIST | VICTOR MULLIN
“
When I see news of a vape shop struggling and facing closure,
and then I look at their shop on Google Maps, there generally
tends to be another shop close by which is doing very well.
Deeper inspection on the facebook page of the shop that’s not
doing well sees either below or on average reviews, either to
do with the stock, the way the customer was treated, and the
help the customer received.
Vaping in the UK will reach that plateau eventually but we are
not there yet. As there are fewer and fewer smokers converting
to vaping, and the pool of new vapers slowly dries up, vape
shops up and down the country will be relying on their repeat
customers and this is where some shops will fall on their sword.
We have all heard of the horror stories of new vapers being
sold mech, or 200+ watt cloud chuck kits, or rebuildable…
when it would have been far better to sell them something like
a mouth-to-lung (MTL) kit to get them started and then gain
that customer’s trust.
The majority of the shops and wholesalers reading this article
will be nodding in agreement and for the most part a lot of
this article is preaching to the choir. But there is still that small
percentage who, sometime in 2019, when the numbers of new
vapers walking into shops continues on its decline, will find
themselves in a very, very, bad position of not being able to get
those repeat customers back in.
No.Vape shops have not reached saturation point. However,
that plateau is coming, and from what I have seen it will be
arriving sometime in 2019. Most of you reading this will know
about it and have built up your loyal customer base. But for
those that haven’t, you don’t have a lot of time left.
VM18 | 87