Vaping retail outlets will be established as part of most high streets in the UK during the next two years, according to the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA).
The UK vaping sector is forecast to become a £4 billion-plus industry by 2021.
The UKVIA estimates that there are more than 2,000 stores across the country currently but that this is likely to grow exponentially during the next two to three years as the owners of retail brands embark on major store investment programs.
“Whilst only 10 years old as an industry, vaping is now big business and significant retail brands are beginning to emerge, taking vaping shops from the back street to the high street,” said Doug Mutter, a board member at UKVIA.
“Just as Google disrupted communications; Uber travelling by taxi; and Airbnb accommodation provision; so vaping has done so through the seismic shift it has caused away from smoking. Vaping stores are mirroring the growth trajectory of coffee and mobile phone shops.
“The recent advertising campaign by Public Health England – the first of its kind to promote vaping – and the government’s Tobacco Control Plan, which reinforced the critical role that vaping has to play in getting smokers to quit, have both been a massive boost to the industry.”