Key points: According to Chicago-based market research firm IRI, total e-cigarette sales in U.S. convenience stores reached $6.93 billion during the 52 weeks ending January 1, 2023, covering all of 2022.
FLOW-wrap: break-word !important;">According to IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm, the U.S. during the 52-week period ending Jan. 1, 2023 (all of 2022) Convenience store channel e-cigarette sales totaled $6.93 billion, up 9.3% year-over-year; the number of products sold was 438 million, down 4.2% year-over-year; and the average unit price was $15.82, up 14% year-over-year. Rick Staley, marketing manager of distributor Tri Star Energy, said in response to the U.S. market situation in the convenience store channel. Rick Staley, marketing manager for distributor Tri Star Energy, said, It is expanding its investment in disposable, nicotine pouches and other non-tobacco products, which are hot right now, and is poised to move the JUUL to higher shelves (meaning less investment in it). Tri Star Energy, founded in 2000, operates Twice Daily and Sudden Service convenience stores, and by 2021 will have provided wholesale distribution in more than 14 states across the United States. more than 14 U.S. states with wholesale distribution services by 2021. It acquired Alabama-based Herndon Oil Corp. and its convenience store brand brand, Southern Traders, in 2021, gaining access to a portfolio that includes 13 Southern Traders convenience stores, as well as Shell's fuel distribution business, which is extremely knowledgeable about the e-cigarette convenience store channel. Convenience store operator RaceTrac, which operates 558 convenience stores in the South, and its category manager, Eric PewteRBAugh, say that It is hoped that by raising awareness of e-cigarettes, it will strengthen the conversion of tobacco/nicotine consumers across categories. He believes that the JUUL promotion will return, coinciding with the trend of increased brand awareness for VUSE. This will present a dual opportunity for sales growth and provide consumers with a more valuable reference for their purchases. Eric Pewterbaugh further noted that inflation will push smokers to consider choosing e-cigarettes more often. He said that in 2023, Rising cigarette prices will accelerate the conversion of smokers to e-cigarettes, with data showing that more and more dual- or even multicategory smokers are switching from combustible tobacco to other tobacco products. While the current regulatory tightening in the U.S. will have an impact on the market, there is no doubt that atomized e-cigarettes will continue to see sales growth across the country and that e-cigarettes will continue to exist as a tobacco product category. Eric Pewterbaugh's view is backed up by data on declining sales of tobacco accessories. PingFangTC-light; font-size: 14.6667px; letter-spacing: 1px; caret-color: rgb(73, 73, 73); box-sizing: border-box !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow-color: rgb(73, 73, 73); box-sizing: border-box ! overflow-wrap: break-word !important;">Smokeless tobacco products (e.g., nicotine pouches) were the strongest-growing category of tobacco/nicotine products in the U.S. convenience store channel in the past 52 weeks ending Jan. 1, 2023 (all of 2022), according to market research firm IRI. As evidence of this; U.S. match sales during the same period totaled 150,000 boxes, down 28.7% year-over-year, on sales of $279,000, down 13%, and lighter sales of 300 million sticks, down 7.6% year-over-year, on sales of $613 million, down 3.2% year-over-year.
