What Are the Target Markets for Your Vape Shop

Wholesale VapeEvery business has a target market, including those in the vaping industry. By understanding your market, you can buy and sell vape wholesale products more effectively, giving you the edge among your competitors and improving your bottom line.

Whether you are selling vape products online through an ecommerce site, or have a brick and mortar high street vape store, your customer demographics will be somewhat diverse. There isn’t just one type of vaping customer, but many, and diversifying your vape inventory can help you cater to all of these demographics simultaneously.

The big question is, who are your customers and how can you make your vape offering exciting for them?

In this article, we explore:

• The demographics of people buying vapes
• How you can effectively market to these demographics
• How to stock your vape shop to cater to these customers

Who is Buying Vapes?

Vaping has been around for some time now, meaning some great research exists into vaping habits and usage. It is now evident that certain commonalities exist amongst the vaping community. Here are a few you should know about.

1)People who are trying to quit smoking tobacco dominate the market. A huge 64.6% of vapers have made the important switch from cigarette and tobacco smoking, to vaping.

2)The smallest section of the market (4.9%) are people who have never smoked and don’t have a nicotine addiction.

3)Slightly more men vape than women, but the split is still pretty even.

4)10.1% of vapers are the millennial generation

5)Between 2020 and 2022, the number of generation Z vapers doubled.

So, what do these statistics tell us about the market, and how can you cater to it?

Trying to Quit

Quitting smoking is not easy. Research has shown it can take 8-11 attempts to quit tobacco products. The traditional quit methods included the use of nicotine patches, nicotine gum, medications, complementary therapies and ‘going cold turkey’. When vaping became mainstream, however, it changed the way people thought about quitting. Instead of trying to quit nicotine altogether, smokers were interested in replacing their habit with a much safer alternative - 90% in fact!

Many vape kits (for example, Elf Bar wholesale products) contain nicotine. This means smokers can get their nicotine hit without intaking the chemicals found in tobacco. Vape kits contain minimal ingredients, including VG/PG, both of which are safe for human consumption, and flavorings. They are much acceptable than their cigarette counterparts.

If a person wishes to stop using nicotine altogether, they can gradually reduce nicotine intake using a vape. For example, you could order Elf Bar wholesale products in varying nicotine strengths (20mg, 10mg, 0mg) to help this group quit altogether and eventually reach a vaping strength of 0mg nicotine.

So how do you market to this group? Simply, you emphasize the benefits. Many people still don’t realize how much safer vaping is than smoking, or might have read some unfortunate myths in the media. Your job as a vape salesperson is to educate and inform this group, offering them cigarette replacements that are mild, delicious and include the right levels of nicotine.

Products of particular interest could be disposable vapes and ‘cigalikes’, which mimic the process of smoking a cigarette and throwing it away. Your customers might also like flavors such as ‘cream tobacco’ or ‘menthol’ which could remind them of their smoking experience and help them to switch away from tobacco.

Millennials and Gen Z

The research above shows that people aged 35-44 (known as millennials) are regularly buying vape kits and that Gen Z are keen to follow in these footsteps.

Millennials typically have some common traits, including a love of social media, a thirst for knowledge, and instant gratification and frequent feedback.

Gen Z shares some common traits with millennials, such as preferring to shop and communicate online. They also love to experiment with different products. It’s therefore wise to give Gen Z a decent spread of options.

Both of these groups also love creativity and DIY. You could try stocking DIY and vape wholesale e-liquid ingredients so that this demographic can have a go at making their own products.

Disposables are also going to be popular amongst this group, especially if you can stock environmentally conscious disposables (which are beginning to surface in the market).

Male / Female Split

There are slightly more men vaping than women, but women still fill a good portion of the market. When stocking vapes, try to cater to all genders. Research has found that women prefer disposable vapes over mods or pods, and generally opt for sleeker, smaller designs. Perhaps this is because smaller disposables can easily fit in a purse or handbag, and are more discreet than larger tanks. Women are also more likely to choose fruity e-juice flavors, whereas men are more partial to a traditional tobacco flavor, or menthol.

When stocking your shop, make sure you have a nice variety of vape kits for all your customers to enjoy, including varying nicotine strengths, flavors, styles and puff counts. Some brands offer a variety of colors and styles to choose from so that you can cater to both male and female users. For example, if you order an Elf Bar wholesale vape kit, you can select a variety of flavors and styles rather than feeling limited to just one.

Keeping Your Marketing Simple

People want to trust their vaping supplier, and this trust can be enhanced through the way you market and present your products. All of your products should come with detailed information that includes ingredients, instructions, strength, puff count and other information the customer needs to vape safely. For example, if you order Elf Bar wholesale products, you should market these Elf Bars to your customer with a clear, accurate and informative approach. Talk about the Elf Bar’s suitability to certain customers and any features that you think your market will be interested in.

If your customers feel educated, listened to and catered to, they are more likely to return to your store in the future and help your vaping business to flourish.