Vapes four times more profitable than tobacco to convenience stores, study shows
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Vapes are proving to be four times more profitable for convenience stores than tobacco, following a nine-fold surge in sales of the devices over three years, a study reveals. The University of Edinburgh's analysis of figures from September 2022 shows that convenience stores make an average profit of 37.1% on vape products, compared to just 8.5% on tobacco products. The average weekly number of transactions per store involving vapes has rocketed from 10 in 2019 to 93 in 2022 – a nine-fold increase in just three years.
Researchers believe that vape sales have likely continued to grow for small retailers since 2022. Meanwhile, footfall from tobacco sales has plummeted by nearly 40% in small retail outlets compared to less than ten years ago, according to the study. When Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) conducted a similar analysis in 2015, 21% of transactions included tobacco, but this figure dropped to 12.8% in 2022, the University of Edinburgh found.
Office for National Statistics figures show that the percentage of UK adults who smoke has decreased from 16% in 2016 to 12% in 2023. The study emphasises the potential benefits to small retailers of existing smokers switching to vaping, and suggests that tobacco sales are becoming increasingly unimportant for businesses.
The authors also highlight that the profitability of vapes underscores the need for a retail licensing scheme to clamp down on irresponsible sellers and protect legitimate retailers. Professor Jamie Pearce of health geography at Edinburgh University said: "Our analysis shows that convenience stores now make only 10% of their profits from tobacco and if their customers were buying products other than tobacco stores would benefit from this.
