Educating consumers on different smoking alternatives can unlock sales growth.
The next-generation nicotine opportunity is there for the taking for retailers who are willing to put in the work. Total UK nicotine pouch sales have now reached £205.6m and are growing by 60% year on year [IRI Marketplace, value and volume sales, 52 w/e 21 December 2025].
Ensuring that staff are clued up on what they are selling is a must, according to Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) UK. “Staff training is always important, but particularly in this category as pouches are still fairly new,” says Head of Marketing, Prianka Jhingan. “Our reps can train staff members in‑store on the flavours and strengths of our nicotine pouch range and how they can all be individually suited to different consumer need states.”
Learning curve
Education will be “the defining factor” in the next phase of nicotine retail, claims The Klinsmann Partnership, developer of Bar Juice 5000 e‑liquids and the SNÜ nicotine pouch range. The firm points to recent data from ASH, which shows that 50% of smokers believe vaping is as harmful as or more harmful than smoking. “Education is one of the most underutilised drivers of conversion, particularly as misconceptions are highest amongst smokers who have never tried alternatives,” says a spokesperson.
Since the disposable vape ban, education has become an even more crucial tool.
“Many users still refer to prefilled pod kits as ‘disposables’. By prioritising education and focusing on distinguishable, future‑proof formats, like nicotine salts, retailers can steer the category to a more stable future,” says a spokesperson.
“Retailers who successfully integrate e‑liquids and pouches into an education‑led strategy will be best placed to drive basket spend, adapt to shifting consumer habits and remain competitive in an increasingly regulated market.”
Imperial Brands UK agrees that education is key. “It’s important to remember that not every customer who walks into a store is an experienced vaper, so retailers and staff that can provide relevant information and advice will help customers make an informed purchasing decision and ultimately build trust in the store,” says Marketing Manager Andrew Malm. The firm’s Ignite app provides retailers with up‑to‑date category, legislation and product news via bite‑sized one‑minute reads. “Retailers can also ensure their staff stay informed with pointers to relevant staff training opportunities, and access exclusive offers or incentives to drive sales,” adds Malm.
Staying abreast of bestselling and trending flavours is also essential for success in vapes and pouches. The predominant flavour in the pouch category is mint but fruity flavours are proving increasingly popular with consumers too, claims STG UK. At the beginning of March, the firm announced a rebrand of XQS, which is the sixth‑biggest pouch brand in the UK. New packs will continue to have nicotine strength indicators on the front, but they will also have a new flavour profile indicator on the side, showing consumers the degree to which each SKU is sweet, fresh, zesty, tangy or icy.
“Our current bestsellers are the Tropical and Black Cherry flavours, which were two of the earlier flavours to launch, while other particularly popular ones to call out at the moment would be Arctic Freeze and Strawberry Kiwi,” says Jhingan. “The strength is moderate at 8mg for most flavours, which are catered to regular nicotine users.”
Fruitful findings
Imperial Brands’ Zone range also offers plenty of fruity flavours.
Zone comes in Sweet Mint, Cool Mint, Watermelon Ice, Juicy Peach and Berry Blast flavours. Imperial states that 9–12mg strength products currently account for 43.4% of the nicotine pouch market [EPoS data October 2021 – June 2025] and Zone is available in 10mg nicotine strength across all its flavours. Cool Mint and Berry Blast are also available in a higher 11mg nicotine strength variety.
Flavour also plays an important role in vape pod‑based customers’ purchasing decisions. Fruit‑flavoured vapes remain by far the most popular, being a choice for 64% of vape users [VapeHub study of preferred flavours, June 2025], followed by menthol, mint and mint‑combo flavours, states Imperial, which recently introduced Creamy Tobacco to its Blu bar kit. The new flavour has been developed following Imperial’s research which revealed growing demand for tobacco‑inspired options among users of pod‑based systems – particularly former cigarette smokers who enjoy the taste of tobacco, as well as those who both smoke and vape, in the 29–41 age group.
Fruit and sweet flavours are increasingly critical to helping Scottish smokers and ex‑smokers transition, according to Elfbar, which has claimed that restricting flavour choices [a potential outcome of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill] could disrupt established quitting behaviours, increasing the likelihood of relapse among former smokers.
New research from the vape giant shows fruit and other sweet flavours have seen an 82% increase in popularity in Scotland among adult vapers quitting smoking, with the majority (62%) now using these flavours most often to quit smoking, up from 34% in December 2024.
The research, carried out by Opinium, found that 63% of all Scottish vapers surveyed use fruit and sweet flavours at least once a week and that 63% of vapers believe that having access to a range of different flavours helps them reduce their smoking or stop them from going back to tobacco products.
Eve Peters, Director of Government Affairs for Elfbar in the UK, says: “Fruit and other sweet vape flavours play an increasingly critical role in helping adult smokers quit for good. As such, it is essential that the Tobacco and Vapes Bill takes an evidence‑based approach to flavours, ensuring smokers can continue to access the vaping products and flavours they need.”
The Bill is now passing through the final stages of UK Parliament before it can receive Royal Assent and become law.
The law on vapes is changing and from 1 October, retailers must pay Vaping Products Duty and abide by the government’s Vaping Duty Stamps Scheme.
The duty rate is £2.20 per 10ml and applies to any bottle, cartridge or pod containing vaping liquids – including nicotine‑free variants.
So if, for example, a retailer sells a 2ml + 10ml pod kit for £6.99, the new Vape Duty would add £2.64, meaning that the new price from 1 October becomes £9.63.
Equally, if a store sells 10ml of e‑liquid for £3.99, then the duty equates to £2.20, so price from 1 October totals £6.19.
All non‑duty‑liable stock must be sold through before 1 April 2027, after which point it will be illegal to sell unstamped products.
All vaping products will feature Duty Stamps – small, highly secure labels attached to the box or bottle packaging – which show that the product is legal, in addition to VAT. The stamps are required to be rectangular, 18mm in width and 42mm in length. Transitional stamps will be available until 31 August, though they cannot be applied after this date.
Vaping Duty Stamps will also have a digital feature, such as a QR code.
If you flout the rules and sell duty‑liable stock for which duty has not been paid or that does not carry a Duty Stamp after the rules have come into force, you could receive a large fine and a possible prison sentence in the most serious cases.
HMRC will also be able to seize any legitimate stock found alongside unstamped goods.
Email vapingproductsduty@hmrc.gov.uk for further advice and to be added to the official communications list.
