Why Are Physical Vaping Stores Seeing Falling Sales?

Calculating the time, the domestic e-cigarette market has been on the rise for over three years. Why are physical e-cigarette stores currently experiencing a significant decline in business? Initially, business was booming, but after a few months, it seems to be in a slump?

I believe this is largely related to the promotion of quitting smoking!

It relates to the failure to recognize that "promoting quitting smoking" is a dead end!

It relates to the lack of public awareness that e-cigarettes = healthy smoking!

Many people say it relates to the flavors of e-liquids, the impact of online sales, the lack of cultural depth in e-cigarettes, and the excessive number of physical e-cigarette stores... There are many theories.

Are these theories correct? They are, but they only address one aspect. I personally believe the main reason is related to the slogan of "quitting smoking"!

Because everyone is generally promoting the slogan of "quitting smoking" and heavily advertising e-cigarettes as a means to quit smoking, the public perception has become that e-cigarettes = quitting smoking! In the past two years, the emergence of large vapor clouds has led some young people to perceive e-cigarettes as a form of play!

This has resulted in: smokers generally believe that e-cigarettes are for quitting smoking, so those who do not want to quit do not come to buy; those who want to quit will only use them for 1-3 months, and those who have successfully quit will no longer consume e-cigarettes. Those who have not quit believe that e-cigarettes are ineffective and also stop consuming them; players use e-cigarettes mainly for fun, with an interest span of 1-2 years.

This has led to a vicious cycle with no sustainability. Sell one customer, lose one customer; sell one customer, lose another! The target audience is shrinking, and the customer base is decreasing, with fewer and fewer people continuously consuming e-cigarettes! It's no wonder that physical e-cigarette stores are struggling!

Currently, when promoting quitting smoking, no one has deeply considered what motivates consumers to quit smoking. Do they really need to quit? People only see the behavior of smokers quitting without thinking about the underlying motivations.

Upon deeper investigation, it becomes clear that smokers generally quit for family reasons, due to loved ones. Very few decide to quit smoking on their own. To elaborate, it’s often because there are children at home, because they are getting married and want children, because the smell of cigarettes is unpleasant to their wives and children, because of secondhand smoke, because smoking leads to bad breath, or because long-term smoking has caused severe coughing...

If we carefully consider these reasons, I can conclude: 80% of those who want to quit smoking do not genuinely want to quit; they just want to smoke a healthier alternative! When they cannot find a healthier option, they are forced to quit.

This is why we often hear phrases like "I can't quit smoking!" and "I've tried to quit many times!".

Why has IQOS become a global sensation just over a year after its launch? Thinking from this perspective makes it very clear.

In summary, promoting e-cigarettes as a means to quit smoking leads smokers to use them for only 1-3 months; promoting e-cigarettes as a form of "play" leads users to engage for 1-2 years. Only by readjusting the research and development direction of e-cigarettes and e-liquids, and promoting e-cigarettes as a healthy alternative, can we help the public form the perception that "e-cigarettes = healthy smoking," making e-cigarettes a necessity for the public. Only then can e-cigarettes be used sustainably for 10-20 years or even longer! This is the true future of e-cigarettes, and the sustainable development of physical e-cigarette stores will follow!