The Vaper Expo UK is an important electronic cigarette exhibition held twice a year in Birmingham, the UK. The autumn one will also be held in October.
Judging from the current public data, it is known that more than 200 companies have participated, including ELF BAR, SKE, OXVA, VOOPOO, GEEKVAPE, FLUM, ESMOO, ANYX, ELUX, VAPORESSO, VOZOL, PEAKBAR and other well-known mainstream e-cigarette companies. Information shows that the 2023 Autumn Birmingham Electronic Cigarette Professional Exhibition will be held at the NEC Convention and Exhibition Center in Birmingham, UK, from October 27 to October 29, 2023.
The UK is the most mature European market and is also a country where e-cigarette channels are concentrated. It not only covers the British local market, but also has a radiation effect on the European market.
According to the recent e-cigarette import and export data released by the British Customs and Excise Department (HMRC), many British e-cigarettes are also sold from the UK to the EU, which means that the EU is facing a large number of resales of British e-cigarettes. As the British e-cigarette market matures and market competition becomes fierce, some British traders are selling low-priced e-cigarettes to other countries. Export destination countries include Ireland (17.51%), Spain (13.07%), France (12.83%), and Germany (8.93%). It can be seen that the British channel market is not only in the country, but also has a large distribution network, which makes it easy to penetrate the entire Europe.
The UK market is currently facing some changes. The biggest opportunity for the UK may be to seize one market and precipitate the overall European market next year.
For example, we have seen the UK talk about continuing to set age limits for use, e-cigarette flavor restrictions, disposable environmental issues, etc. a few days ago. All these show that the British market is changing, and there are new opportunities in the changes, especially the e-cigarette industry, which changes in a few months. If you grasp the market sense, you can take the lead.
Capturing information about the UK will help consolidate its position in mature markets. More importantly, it will seize a British window to go to Europe and the world.
mkg once learned about a brand that is entering the UK market and using a multi-brand strategy. It is currently looking for trusted channels in the UK to launch brand products. Their biggest problem is that they are developing several new brands, how to enter the market? The UK is a fairly mature market, and channels and how the brand is launched are critical.
In the British market, the degree of compliance will become higher and higher, and this will also be a trend. In such a market, channel vendors pay more attention to the introduction of compliant products.
In fact, we also know that the UK’s compliant disposable products (600PUFFS) market is very mature and is currently basically monopolized by four mainstream brands. The key to developing this field lies in the manufacturer’s product differentiation, price advantages and business policies. Development is relatively difficult. Large-scale products are non-compliant products in the UK, but they account for a large proportion of market sales and are very popular with consumers. Most of them are sold in terminal stores (excluding KA channels).
Open pod products have a good user base in the UK, and there are currently many types of products on the market. Differentiated and miniaturized products are a direction that businesses are generally paying attention to.
To delve deeper into such a market, on the one hand, we must seize mature stocks. It should be said that stocks other than the bulk stocks are easier to enter; the second is the development of the incremental e-cigarette market. Currently, due to the traditional 3C digital/accessories, small commodities, etc. Profits/sales in the field continue to decline. This group of dealers have a strong enthusiasm for participating in the e-cigarette sector. Most of them have complete channel networks and offline distribution groups, which does not conflict with the existing e-cigarette channels. Chinese manufacturers can quickly enter the British market through this field and establish a new e-cigarette channel network.
The difference you see in the British market is that some companies are focusing on compliance, environmental protection, and recycling, advocating recycling and building public trust. This may be done by a few companies and taking the lead; some companies focus on terminal sales and rarely recycle. .
There are a large number of e-cigarette users in the UK, and the highly mature channels also hide a group of “e-cigarette channel regeneration forces” with a huge retail network. These are all things to watch in the future.
To go deep into the market in a region, in addition to the initial investment, it is more important to accumulate an impression of the channels and then launch more comprehensive cooperation.
