French Tobacconists create the Vapin’Shop label
Launched a few months ago, the “Tobacconists for vaping” (Buralistes de la vape) program is still struggling to convince investors and vaping enthusiasts. The initiative began as a way for the Confederation of Tobacconists to make up for the delay in e-cigarette sales in tobacconists shops. Another independent and promising project, entitled Vapin’Shop, has just been launched with the same stated goal.
Founded by five tobacconists, the Vapin’Shop label will promote tobacconist shops by proposing products dedicated to vaping. This will include a dedicated vaping section, which will include e-liquids that can be sampled on site. Each month, members of the group will also offer promotions and deals on various vaping products.
One of the project’s major benefits is that it will be totally independent from other organizations. Indeed, tobacconist members are not attached to any major distributor or manufacturer, and can also act independently of the Confederation of Tobacconists. The goal is to promote the diversification of the types of products sold in tobacconist shops.
A project still in its infancy
The association offers multiple advantages to member tobacconists. Most notably, members will be able to use the Vapin’Shop label on their products. Depending on the expertise of the vendor, the label will be divided into one of three categories. The idea is to promote experienced and specialized tobacconists that can guide customers interested in vaping.
A website is on its way, which will give further weight to the project. Vaping fans will be able to use the website to easily geolocate member shops connected to the association. In time, the Vapin’Shop label hopes to reunite people within the tobacconists community who are also knowledgeable about e-cigarettes.
It will be interesting to see what kind of impact this initiative has in the long term. Of approximately 24,000 French tobacconists, the group is hoping to bring in a few hundred new members around the label. In fact, this may be the first major project to facilitate the vaping trade within tobacconist shops.