Yes, cigarettes are declining in sales and margin. But in defiance of the surgeon general, your customers are issuing their own warning: Don’t dis the smoker.
Electronic cigarettes and vaping are growing, but the CSP-Technomic study shows that cigarettes remain the stealthy bull of this broader tobacco category, with 90% of tobacco consumers purchasing them at least occasionally, followed by cigars (19%), e-cigarettes (18%) and e-liquids and chewing tobacco (16% each).
As for e-cigarettes, proceed with caution, because buys haven’t risen overall since 2012. Still, 31% of shoppers say they’re purchasing them more frequently today. And it’s very clear that the world of vaping is undergoing dramatic shifts.
Back to smokes: Ignore crowd-pleasing tobacco brands at your own peril. Most tobacco purchasers (57%) are fiercely loyal and frequent only c-stores that carry their favorite brands.
That doesn’t mean you should skimp on other brands. Despite this habit of purchasing only a few of the predictable products, consumers say they yearn for a wider array of smokes and flavors. If you want to impress 18- to 34-year-olds in particular, offer a greater variety of tobacco products (63% of Gen-Z and millennials wish c-stores did just that) and more flavors for e-cigarettes and other vaporizer products (60%).
And keep in mind that super-heavy shoppers are more likely than moderate or light users to covet diversity in these offerings.
However you stock products, remember that the tobacco segment is your No. 1 customer purchase.
Click here to view the supporting data for this analysis.
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