Tobacco sales

There has been a surge in reports about vaping, e-cigarettes, in recent months, reports critical on the impact of vaping. Here are four of the recent reports:

1. ABC triple j.
2. New Atlas.
3. Business Insider.
4. Science Daily.

Then, there is the report from Convenience and Impulse Retailing claiming a CSIRO study assists people to quit smoking. That is not the full story. Click here for the CSIRO report. As you can read, it offers six conclusions:

1. Conclusion: the evidence available suggests that regular use of e-cigarettes is likely to have adverse health consequences. There is a lack of clarity about the magnitude of adverse health effects, and the quantity of e-cigarette use required to trigger adverse health effects.
2. Conclusion: In many countries where appropriate evidence is available, it appears that e-cigarette use occurs with cigarette use. However the evidence is consistent in suggesting that use of e-cigarettes by non-smoking youth predicts future smoking. While many smokers and former smokers state a preference for e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation method, the effectiveness of this method compared with other smoking cessation methods is not known.
3. Conclusion: based on the current evidence it is not possible to determine whether e-cigarettes have a positive or a negative effect on health in countries where they are permitted.
4. Conclusion: when e-cigarettes are used by smokers instead of conventional cigarettes there is evidence for improvement in individual health. However, use of e-cigarettes may also introduce independent health risks, and ‘dual use’ (using both e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes) is popular.
5. Conclusion: It is a critical research question to determine the effectiveness of e-cigarettes compared to other smoking cessation methods among Australian smokers generally, and also among specific groups with a high smoking rate. The rate at which young people and adults in Australia start smoking as a result of using e-cigarettes should be assessed and monitored to fill a research gap. On present evidence, it is not possible to determine whether less restrictive access to e-cigarettes would reduce rates of smoking in Australia.
6. Conclusion: There does not appear to be a consistent pattern of rate of e-cigarette use compared to tobacco smoking across countries. However, while tobacco smoking is a well-established practice that varies widely between countries, e-cigarette use has spread across countries in the recent past with different rate of device availability, marketing, familiarity and regulations. It is plausible that a between-country relationship for tobacco smoking and e-cigarette use could develop in the future.

The gap between the six conclusions and reports, like in Convenience and Impulse Retailing, demonstrate how vested interests are dealing with issues related to vaping.

Fairfax media reported yesterday on the source of some funding for a pro-vaping lobbying group, showing that some funding came from businesses selling vaping products.

Vaping remains controversial on a range of fronts. Retailers wondering if vaping products are a replacement for tobacco products have research to do, to guide their decision on whether to engage or not.

The differences between countries on regulation fuels confusion on vaping. Considering this, it feels like we are some distance from a resolution that can be trusted.

Here is a behind the counter tobacco retail unit in a c-store in Denmark, which I saw a couple of weeks ago. I figured Australian tobacco retailers may find it interesting. It is a computerised dispenser with digital representation of packs. Excellent security.

I have been contacted by a journalist in the UK who is doing a story on tobacco and as part of the story they were keen to hear from retailers about any impact on sales of the change in tobacco pack size. Comments here welcome.

Every week or two I receive an email from a different overseas printing or packaging business promoting packaging options for covering up the horror cigarette smoking can do to one’s body. This photo shows today’s promoted pack cover-ups they are pitching to retailers.

A US National Institutes of Health study of 222 students shows a possible link between the use of e-cigarettes and the initiation of tobacco use.

Students who have used electronic cigarettes by the time they start ninth grade are more likely than others to start smoking traditional cigarettes and other combustible tobacco products within the next year, according to a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health. E-cigarettes deliver nicotine to the lungs by heating a liquid solution that contains nicotine and other chemicals to produce an aerosol that the user inhales, a process often called “vaping.”

The results of the study have been published widely including in medical journals and The Wall Street Journal, where I first read about it. The Conversation has a report on the study, lending an Australian voice to the discussion and explaining why regulation of e-cigarettes is necessary.

British American Tobacco Australia is moving to electronic orders, further driving tobacco retailers to engage with compliant technology for managing the tobacco category.

Newsagents will see more suppliers reduce their costs associated with harvesting orders.

The British parliament has today voted to adopt plain packaging of cigarettes similar to what has been adopted in Australia.

I’ve met plenty of UK newsagents who rely on tobacco sales in their businesses. One told me it accounted for 75% of revenue.

This move is a reminder to run our businesses such that we do not rely on one single supplier or category for the existence of our business.

On the health front, tobacco sales in Australia continue to fall.

I participated in a round table discussion about tobacco products at the Better Retailing Live conference in manchester today and was surprised at the annual £2.5 cost to the UK economy of illegal tobacco and minimal interest from regulators and lawmakers.

The pack of Mayfair on the left in the photo is illegal product and the pack on the right is the legal product.

The other issue of the illegal tobacco is the health risk – it is far beyond the health risk of legal cigarettes. This alone should drive engagement by those in authority.

With tobacco products accounting for up to 50% of sales in some news / convenience businesses I would have expected stronger engagement by retailers pressuring government for resources necessary to stop the illegal trade.

The presence of electronic cigarettes in retail in the UK is big, very big, compared to Australia. There are specialist retailers like the VIP outlet in the photo as well as placement of e-digs in existing retailers. Plus there is plenty being spent on outdoor advertising and sport sponsorships – amid controversy. Tighter restrictions on electronic cigarettes in Australia currently reduce the value of this level of investment. What has surprised me the most in the UK is the stand alone e-cog retail businesses. I wonder if that is more about education as this stage of the product’s life.

If you’re in front of TV tonight check out the ABC’s 4 Corners two-part British documentary on tobacco. It also touches on e-cigarettes. If you miss it, catch it on iView. It’s a fascinating insight into a product category that is still important to plenty of newsagency businesses, albeit a declining number.

WA Today reports that tobacco laws in NSW could be amended to outlaw electronic cigarettes following a legal test case in WA.

It has always been illegal to sell e-cigarette liquids that contain nicotine under Australian law but in a big development last week, the Supreme Court of Western Australia effectively banned e-cigarettes outright in the state, prosecuting a company, called HeavenlyVapours, which had been selling the dispensers and nicotine-free ”e-juice” through a website.

This is a significant development of which retailers of electronic cigarettes ought to be aware.

Further to my post from February about the BBC producing a documentary on tobacco packaging changes, click here to see the resulting story.

This is one of many outposts selling electronic cigarettes that I have seen in shopping malls this trips. While these products are in drug stores and c-stores where you;d expect, it’s the outpost mall situations that is surprising. Based on the number it must be working.

It seems each time I come to the US the reach of electronic cigarettes has extended – faster than in Australia. In New York, in the three months since I was here there are more signs and billboards promoting them.

This photo shows the side of a news stand on Broadway in Midtown and where in the past regular cigarettes would have been advertised in the poster window you now have ads for two brands of electronic cigarettes.