Series: Exploring Jakarta’s Vaping Market and Meeting Distributors Earning Hundreds of Thousands Mon

Jakarta is currently the e-cigarette consumption center in Indonesia, a city with over 10 million people, boasting millions of potential consumers who smoke.

To explore the e-cigarette distributor market in Jakarta, the CVIC team recently ventured into local distribution hubs under the scorching sun, from the city center to the west, delivering the "CVIC VAPE" to various distributors, promoting and spreading the value of China's e-cigarette industry cluster. During the visit, several distributors were found earning hundreds of thousands per month, with one distributor achieving a staggering monthly income of 480,000. Some distributors had many customers visiting on the same day; despite the city's underdeveloped infrastructure, the consumption scene for e-cigarettes instilled confidence in the market.

01

Distributors are scattered, but sales scale is surprising.

In Jakarta, local e-cigarette stores are quite dispersed, but there are many Toyota cars on the road, and numerous motorcyclists, leading to congested traffic, reminiscent of the development process of Chinese cities in the 1990s.

(On-site visit to local distributors in Jakarta)

CVIC delved into the Jakarta distribution market, visiting many well-known agents, distributors, and other chain store owners through a step-by-step offline store visit model, including GAssvapestore, 54VAPE, KOTA, vapeoi, and many other local e-cigarette distributors.

These distributors generally have several retail stores distributed across the area, with a wide variety of products available.

For example, during a visit to a distributor named GAssvapestore, one store operated over a hundred types of devices, with over 500 brands of e-liquids. The devices mainly include VOOPOO, OXVA, jellybox, UWELL, aspire, foom, etc. The only disposable brands available are ELF BAR and HQD. This distributor has eight stores in Indonesia.

One of the stores, though small, achieved over 400,000 RMB in monthly sales, selling over ten brands, with more than 50 types of devices and over 100 types of e-liquids, selling over 20 devices and more than 100 bottles of e-liquids daily. This distributor has four retail stores and also has many agents purchasing from them. In the store, brands like OXVA, VOOPOO, SMOK, and e-liquid brands like FOOM, OAT DRIDS, and HAZE are all available, all operating in an open format, with no disposables.

One wholesale store, which has only been in the e-cigarette business for a short time, is doing well. Inside, there are over 100 types of devices and over 600 types of e-liquids. The warehouse is also filled with GEEK BAR products. The owner stated that their sales volume is substantial and covers the entire Indonesian network.

(Visiting local wholesalers)

One distributor's store is located on the second floor, but there are many young people around, so the business is also good. This store just opened two months ago, and its sales have already surpassed 450,000 RMB. Moreover, the store is still not fully decorated but is already in operation and has attracted many customers. This store is the owner's second location; the first store did not perform well due to its remote location. Together, these two stores sell over 100 types of e-liquids and over 50 types of devices.

Another distributor, VAPEOI, has 15 stores in Indonesia, with each store selling about 40 devices and over 150 bottles of e-liquids monthly.

(In-depth visits, promoting Chinese factories)

02

CVIC has become a hotspot for Indonesian distributors.

During this visit to Indonesia, the local Indonesian E-Cigarette Association and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Indonesian E-Cigarette Association paid special attention to CVIC's visit and accepted interviews.

(Visiting core distributor enterprises of the association)

(Interview with the Indonesian E-Cigarette Association, discussing the Indonesian market)

(Meeting with core member distributors of the local E-Cigarette Association)

At the same time, CVIC has also become an important "trusted partner" for local distributors. They welcome learning more about Chinese supply chain resources through CVIC to promote regional market development.

(CVIC becomes a designated partner)

03

Researching which brands are the best sellers locally.

During this visit, CVIC specifically collected data on the best-selling e-liquid and device brands from each distributor, along with store sales data. Notably, they were very welcoming to CVIC's arrival, and even the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Indonesian E-Cigarette Association stated that they had not seen such a good channel publication in Indonesia, as this is a value platform backed by China's vast supply chain resources. They cooperated very well with CVIC's interviews and research, providing a wealth of valuable information. One distributor has 12 stores in this region, with eight more stores around Jakarta, making it a sizable distributor.

(CVIC's in-depth visit to some Jakarta distributors)

Through CVIC's local exploration, it was found that the e-liquid brands are concentrated around FOOM, HEROS, POD SALT, OAT DRIPS, NIKMAT, FAQ, BEQU, and SECRET BANANA. Most e-liquids are in the 30-60ML range, with nicotine levels generally around 3-6MG. The devices mainly consist of open-fill devices, with prominent brands including OXVA XLIM SE, FOOM POD X, VOOPOO, VAPORESSO, LOST VAPE, UWEL, and SMOK.

(Top-selling e-liquid brands locally)

(Top-selling device brands locally)

Before arriving in Indonesia, one might not have realized that each distributor's store gathers some of the top-selling brands, and some overlap, forming market trends. Moreover, the shelves are filled with a variety of products, reminiscent of the experience of freely selecting goods in Chinese grocery stores.

During the first day of CVIC's investigation of distributors, it was observed that the stores displayed numerous e-cigarette devices and e-liquid products.

For instance, one distributor has five branches, with the best-selling device being OXVA and the best-selling e-liquid being FOOM.

Through the current findings in Jakarta, the To C market for e-liquid is also large (hence the special attention from distributors), while many device brands still have ample room for growth. It was noted that some local packaging is relatively simple, and there is potential for improvement in design. At the same time, the market in Indonesia currently has a significant demand for open-fill devices, with many stores also displaying disposables, primarily brands like ELF BAR and HQD, while the devices are mainly open-fill brands like OXVA and VOOPOO. Whether there are more suitable flavor and experience solutions for the Indonesian market in terms of e-liquid pairing and design is worth considering.