Nowadays, we can safely state that vaping has become the next big thing. With more and more people interested in it, it seems like the vape industry might even overshadow the tobacco one. And it can happen sooner than we all expect.
Nevertheless, even though the number of online vape shops like vapekit.co.uk constantly rises, this industry is yet to face its biggest challenges. Firstly, not all people see vaping as a healthier alternative to tobacco smoking. Next, vaping products are becoming frequently banned in public places — much like their tobacco counterparts. Finally, the advertising of vape products and smoking accessories is not the easiest undertaking.
To correctly estimate how much the vape industry can grow in the coming years, we need to take a closer look at these challenges and determine what effect they will have on the whole vaping community. Here are the biggest challenges the vape market needs to address.
Public Opinion
The first and the most critical factor that we need to consider is public opinion. How people perceive vaping and those who vape is the best indicator of how popular vaping can become. Right now, the public opinion on vaping seems to be split in half.
One group of people is very open to the idea of vaping products becoming a substitute for traditional tobacco products, such as cigarettes and cigars. Among them, we can even find government officials and other prominent public figures. For example, Martin Dockrell, a Tobacco Control Programme Lead for Public Health England, states that we should be encouraging smokers to switch from cigarettes to e-cigarettes.
On the other hand, others claim that the promotion of vaping products is as harmful as the promotion of tobacco smoking. These people usually are against the practice of smoking and would like to see it banned altogether.
While not all people are convinced that vaping can be a healthy alternative to regular smoking, the vape industry still has some work to do in this regard. One of the ways they can improve the public opinion of vaping products is through smart advertising.
Advertising
Although many countries banned the promotion of traditional smoking products like cigarettes, they allow some forms of advertising for e-cigarettes and other vaping products. It seems like an understandable decision, given that the harmful effects of vaping are far from the detrimental effects of smoking, which is responsible for nearly eight million deaths a year worldwide.
With that being said, depending on where the vape companies want to promote their products, they might stumble upon multiple drawbacks. For instance, most countries forbid the promotion of vaping products that contain nicotine in the most popular forms of media. This includes television, newspapers, and even the internet.
Essentially, what most vape marketers have left is the practice of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), clever use of social media, and organizing vaping events and exhibitions. It is not much, but it seems to get the job done (at least now).
New Regulations
With vaping businesses being banned from many forms of advertising, one can only wonder what other regulations could negatively affect the vape market in the future. It is a point of concern both for the companies and the customers.
The European Union’s TPD (tobacco product directive) is the crucial set of rules regarding the legality of vaping products in the EU. Its goal is to set necessary boundaries and improve the quality of the products. But, no one knows if the European Union will put some other solutions in place to regulate the market further.
Interestingly, in the United States, some people put forth the idea to ban selling vaping products at the federal level. They argue that it is a natural consequence of creating similar regulations in states and cities. For instance, in 2019, San Francisco became the first US city to ban e-cigarettes. Nowadays, indoor vaping is state-wide prohibited in California, Colorado, New Jersey, Maine, New York, Utah, and many more.
More bans on the sale of vaping products could take some money out of the pockets of manufacturers and lead to the creation of a black market. This, in turn, might fill the market with untested, low-quality products, harming the industry’s reputation as a whole.
Final Thoughts
The vape industry has a set of roadblocks to consider. New entrepreneurs who wish to invest in the vape market must be aware of the dangers of this move. They have to keep a careful watch of public opinion, face advertising challenges, and constantly monitor new regulations.
The combination of all of these factors makes the vape industry a high-risk, high-reward environment. Nonetheless, with the tobacco industry being on its way out, putting some money into it might be the best move. Soon enough, we may be able to discover if it is the case.
This guest post was provided by author Ciara Walsh. Readers, you may share your thoughts on the future of vaping in our forum.
