Poor Start To Vape Ban | Viewpoint: James Lowman | Talking Retail

The danger of course, is that – if customers aren’t really paying attention to whether the devices are rechargeable or not – then, as their previous behaviour was to throw the vape away when it ran out of puffs, it’s very unlikely they’ll change course without some kind of intervention or education.

Another reason people may be inclined to throw away the new devices is the availability of refills. The regulations state that refills have to be available on the market, but not necessarily in the same shop where the device itself is sold.

There are clearly benefits to being able to offer pods or refills to customers to secure that repeat business, but for some it will create an unintentional barrier.

The feedback we’ve had from retailers is that the pods are really difficult to get hold of, so the refillable devices they’re selling are being effectively turned into disposables.

We know, of course, that plenty of people are still getting disposable vapes on the illicit market. Tackling rogue traders has been a major battle in recent years and the disposables ban has given them another opportunity to appeal to people looking for cheap product.

Responsible retailers have told us that in some areas their vape sales have taken a major hit since the ban came into force, so it’s not unreasonable to assume that those people have either stockpiled or are finding disposables elsewhere.

We know trading standards don’t have the resources to stop every illegal seller, but the government has promised more funding, so hopefully the numbers of rogue traders will decline soon. Overall, it seems the first month of the ban has created more problems than solutions.

James Lowman is chief executive at the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS)