Get the inside track on what’s hot and what’s not with our exclusive Talysis data.
When legal sales of disposable vapes were stubbed out on 1 June, Scotland took a hard hit, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities to prosper. Our exclusive data from Talysis highlights exactly how the Scottish convenience market has been impacted and where the opportunities lie going forwards.
Vapes accounted for 17.2% of total Tobacco value sales in Scotland during the year to date (YTD) period from January to May 2025, with sales down -10.4% versus the same period a year ago. This is in line with overall UK performance, where vapes made up 17.8% of value sales, with sales down -10.8%.
However, when the single-use ban came into place, Scotland took a deeper cut than down south. In the four weeks to 28 June 2025, vapes value share has fallen to 13.9% in Scotland, with sales plummeting -33% versus a year ago. The impact of the ban has been lower in the UK as a whole, where value share has fallen to 15.2%, with a smaller sales decline of -26%, notes Talysis.
Pod kits performance
Ahead of the ban, disposable vapes accounted for a massive three-quarters of value sales in Scotland (YTD May 2025), though sales were already in significant decline (-27%), as manufacturers switched to alternative products. Big puff 12ml pod kits were the second biggest subcategory with a 10.9% value share.
Fast-forward four weeks and we’re looking at a dramatically different landscape where small puff 2ml pod kits are now the dominant subcategory with well over a third (38.4%) of the market (4 w/e 28 June 2025). In second place are big puff 12ml pod kits with a 25.4% share. Pods is the third largest subcategory with an 18.7% share, while big puff 4-in-1 pod kits account for 7.9%.
“With the ban only recently having taken effect, it’s still too early to be completely sure on the impact,” says Andrew Malm, UK Market Manager for Imperial Brands. “What we can say is that the existing growth in the purchase and use of pod-based vapes has gathered pace due to the similar levels of convenience and extensive flavour choices when compared with disposable products.”
Guna Sud, the owner of the Racetrack convenience chain, which includes SLR Vaping Retailer of the Year Racetrack Wishaw, believes many consumers are opting for smaller puffs because they are a similar concept to the disposable offer. “I think that a lot of customers are stuck in their ways in the sense that if they were using a Crystal Bar before, they want to keep using [the compliant version of] that because they just know how it works, they’re happy with the brand, happy with the flavour,” he says.
However, in the longer term, he expects the market to shift towards big puff. “I think the growth in new customers will come from the bigger puffs. The saving for the customer is just much, much better. You can spend a fiver for a 600 puff, whereas you could spend a tenner and get a 10,000 puff. It’s just really educating that to customers, explaining to them the cost and the saving if they make the switch. That’s where we’re trying to use brand activations to make it even cheaper for the customer to try it.”
Concerningly, in the first four weeks after the ban, disposable vapes still accounted for 6.3% of total vape sales.
“We believe some bad actors will retain a supply of disposable vapes for consumers and, for those consumers who are still not aware of the ban, how will they know the product is illegal just from looking at it?” says Malm.
“We’ve heard stories in parts of the UK where illicit sellers are telling consumers that only certain types of disposables are now illegal. These bad actors are putting a counter-communication out there to confuse and poach shoppers with illegal products they are led to believe are compliant, so it’s very important to ensure consumers are educated.”
Guna claims that you don’t have to look far to find retailers selling disposables. “I could literally walk 200 yards to any of the stores [round here] and I’ll find non-compliant products still for sale. The ban should have been paired with 100 more [Trading Standards] boots on the ground just in Glasgow to come out and clamp down on everyone selling illicit stock on 1 June, but we just didn’t see that happening.
“I’m not aware of anyone having been visited by Trading Standards in Glasgow yet. I think until they start doing that, retailers will keep selling it.”
Vape brand battles
June was a whirlwind adventure for vape brands. In the four weeks ending 28 June 2025, the top 10 brands accounted for 93% of value sales of vapes in Scotland. SKE and IVG are the key brands, driving half the value sales, highlights Talysis, however both have seen a significant decline in value sales, down -34.4% and -21.6% respectively. They are by no means the biggest fallers though, with Elf Bar diving -57.5%, sister brand Lost Mary slipping -44.7%, and Gold Bar sinking -93.5%.
Elfbar and Lost Mary recently launched reusable versions of their most popular single-use devices. The Elfbar 600 Prefilled Pod Kit has replaced the Elfbar 600 and the Lost Mary BM600 Prefilled Pod Kit succeeds the BM600. Both are rechargeable and use prefilled pods.
The Lost Mary BM6000, a reusable device that the firm claims has quickly become a best-seller in the high puff count category, has also been updated to meet new regulations. “With Circana sales data showing demand for high puff count devices continues to grow, the refreshed version ensures retailers have continued access to one of the category’s strongest performers,” says Angelo Yang, Associate General Manager, UK, Elfbar.
While some big vape brands have been wounded by the single-use ban, a number of newer brands have shot through the ranks. Pixl, which only launched in June 2024, enjoyed off-the-chart growth to become the third-top-selling vape brand with an impressive 13.5% share, while Higo rocketed 238% to fifth place with a 7.1% share.
“SKE is our top seller, followed by IVG, then Pixl at number three,” says Guna, who has been working closely with several suppliers to create in-store activations where reps can educate consumers on alternatives to disposables. “We’ve had Pixl reps in store before and after the ban doing activations, pushing the compliant product.
“Higo has seen phenomenal growth,” he adds. “It’s flying out. For the last two weeks just one Higo SKU was outselling every other brand [at Racetrack]. The brands that have brought new devices out the soonest, they’re the ones that performed the best.
“For us, Lost Mary is probably sitting right down at the bottom. We’ve not done as much work with Lost Mary and Elf Bar; the promo push has been on other brands.”
Hyola is one such brand. “Last week, we had Hyola in store and they were running their device at half price,” he explains. “If they sell the kit half price, then the following weeks after that we’re seeing massive growth in the pod for that kit, and that’s why they’re running it.”
Since the ban, Hyola has jumped up the top 10 brand list from number 10 to number seven with a 2.5% value share, highlights Talysis.
Gold Bar, which held a 5.8% share in the year to May, has slipped down to just 1.5% in the first month of the ban. “Gold Bar really lost its market here,” says Guna. “They had their 600 puff, which was already dwindling in sales before the ban, and they never replaced it with another [compliant] version.”
The last four weeks to June 28 have seen blu climb into 10th place with a 1.2% value share of the vape market. “Before the ban, many retailers had already made the decision to prioritise stocking compliant alternatives, such as our blu bar kit,” says Malm. “With an impressive 1,000 puffs per pod, the blu bar kit provides customers with a rechargeable and reusable vape device which offers the same flavour experience and similar convenience that existing disposable vape customers prefer.”
The success of blu bar kit has also driven a further product launch with the introduction of the blu box kit (see box-out), which caters to the one in four disposable vape customers who prefer a box format vape device, claims Imperial Brands.
Even though many of his customers have already transitioned over from disposable vapes, activations have now become a core part of Racetrack’s smoking alternatives offer. “I don’t believe we lost any vape customers,” says Guna. “We’ve probably grown a bit in customer base just because we were educating people and we’ve had these reps in talking to customers and doing the giveaways.
“People expect now coming in here that there’s going to be a deep promo. But that’s good because it brings them into the store every week. They’re trying new items, but it means we’ve got to work harder with the brands to ensure we’re giving good promos as well.
“We need to keep that promo lineup going really well otherwise they might not come back.”
On the whole, Guna is relieved that the ban has come into action and that consumers are adapting to the new normal. “Ignoring the sales jump we had in May for panic buying – we’re up 5% from April,” he says. “Now that the ban is in place, we’re much happier. We’ve got more compliant devices and the rest of the brands have caught up, so we’re feeling better now. We’re back to picking and choosing, analysing sales and seeing what’s not performing and what can we replace with what. It’s back to business.”
Drilling down to SKU level, the top 20 vape products after the disposables ban accounted for over a quarter of value sales in Scotland. SKE had four out of the top five products. Lemon & Lime is the top flavour, followed by Cherry. The top two flavours were the same YTD to May on disposables, observes Talysis.
“Fruit remains the most popular flavour profile among adult smokers and ex-smokers, as supported by a recent Elfbar study of over 6,000 UK adults (conducted by Opinium in December 2024) – with two-thirds (68%) of vapers saying that a wide flavour variety helps them reduce their smoking or stay off tobacco, and almost half (48%) using fruit or other sweet flavours,” says Angelo Yang, Associate General Manager, UK, Elfbar.
“Among the bestselling Elfbar flavours in Scotland are Watermelon, Blueberry, and Blue Razz Lemonade. For Lost Mary, top performers include Pineapple Ice, Strawberry Ice, and Blueberry Sour Raspberry.”
Recognising the importance of flavour options as a key purchasing factor for customers, Imperial Brands has recently launched a range of new flavours for the blu pod line.
These pods are compatible with its rechargeable blu devices. Packs of two blu replaceable pods offer customers up to 2,000 puffs of intense flavours – 15 in total – including 11 new additions, such as Strawberry Ice, Kiwi Passionfruit, Mint, Triple Melon and more.
Oral Nicotine has seen very high growth in Scottish convenience, both before and after the disposable vapes ban, observes Talysis. Oral nicotine had a small value share in Scotland YTD to May (1.1%), with very high growth (+58%). It has seen a small increase in value share to 1.3% post the disposable vapes ban, with continued strong growth (+51%).
The top five nicotine pouch brands accounted for 97% of value sales in Scotland in the YTD period to May. All of the key brands have seen very high growth, with overall sales up 58%. Post the disposable vapes ban, value sales have risen by 51%.
Topping the brand value share list for the four weeks to 28/6/25 is Velo with a 39.5% value share, then Nordic on 34.1%, Pablo is third with 11.4%, while Killa is fourth on 11.1% and Zyn accounts for 1.9%.
“Pouches are still growing for us,” says Guna. “We had a couple of months when they were stagnant, so I reached out to some brands like Killa and Pablo and they were doing activations in store like buy two, get one free and giving out merchandise. That’s helped.
“I think because of the ban we’ve also seen a jump in sales on pouches between May and June. We’ve seen about at least a 10% increase in pouches. There are a lot of brands selling pouches, but we don’t really bring them in unless we get customer requests. For us, the main brands are Killa, Pablo and Velo.”
Prianka Jhingan, Head of Marketing at Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) UK, says: “Our latest data shows total UK nicotine pouch sales to be worth just under £158m and growing by 71% YOY in volume terms [IRI Marketplace, Value and Volume sales, Time Period: w/e 11 May 2025]. Although more sales currently take place in the grocery channel, they are actually growing fastest in the convenience channel.
“In fact, our latest data show pouch sales have very nearly doubled in the last twelve months in convenience stores, with our own XQS selling particularly well in this channel, where it is already the fifth-biggest-selling brand, with huge potential for further growth. And remember, nicotine pouches offer attractive profit margins in general, but I’m pleased to confirm that XQS in particular offers one of the highest margins of all pouch brands, which is yet another reason to ensure you are well-stocked.”
“We are confident the ban on single use vape products represents a really good opportunity for nicotine pouch brands like XQS, as many next gen nicotine users are now looking elsewhere for different next gen products, and pouches offer an extremely credible alternative. This is largely because, unlike vapes, nicotine pouch users can enjoy them on public transport, at work, at sporting events, concerts or anywhere they like.”
In January STG introduced two new XQS flavours, Black Cherry and Citrus Cooling, and more recently, it has added three more with the introduction of Raspberry Blackcurrant, Strawberry Kiwi and Berrynana Twist.
Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) UK’s nicotine pouch brand, XQS, is running a summer sampling campaign and offering consumers the chance to win a weekend in Ibiza.
Throughout July and August, XQS sampling teams will be live across the nation, giving away thousands of sampling sachets to consumers, with the winner selected at random on the 1st of September. Each sachet has a QR code which directs to a landing page, where consumers can enter a prize draw to win a trip to Ibiza or other prizes including Deliveroo gift cards and XQS merchandise. Consumers simply scan the QR code and enter their details for a chance to win. The activation will further be supported on social media where consumers can sign up for a free sample sachet and enter the competition for a chance to win.
STG’s UK Head of Marketing, Prianka Jhingan, said: “It’s just over a year since we launched XQS, but it’s off to a flying start and is already the fifth-biggest pouch brand in the convenience channel, with eight flavours already in the portfolio and more to follow. This exciting summer sampling campaign will help get even more cans into hands, with a motivating prize of a trip to Ibiza. Welcome to the summer of XQS!”
Talysis specialises in the analysis, interpretation and application of retail sales data within FMCG categories. Currently working with some of the biggest names in retail and manufacturing across Ireland and the UK, Talysis helps brand owners, retailers and wholesalers to capitalise on their data and maximise their sales. Its bespoke application of data is what sets Talysis apart, providing clients with actionable insights to make strategic decisions & interventions.
Republic Technologies (UK) Ltd has released a ‘Smarter’ vape range incorporating new technology (patent pending).
The Smarter range comprises the compact Smarter Mini (RSP £9.99, 120g), which provides up to 800 puffs per replaceable pod. The Mini incorporates a replaceable, longer-lasting ceramic coil (as opposed to a mesh coil) which sits outside the pod.
Meanwhile, the long-lasting Smarter 6K (RSP £12.99, 103g) enables users to enjoy up to 6,000 puffs per refill, with a 2ml + 10ml rechargeable tank.
The blu box kit from Imperial Brands is a compact ‘box style’ rechargeable vape device with a durable, brushed metallic finish. The blu box kit also features liquid level visibility so customers can easily see when to visit their local store for more replacement blu pods. Like the blu bar kit, it offers 1,000 puffs of intense flavour per each individual prefilled, replaceable blu pod and a rechargeable 560mAh battery.
The new kits, which include a blu box rechargeable vaping device and 1 x blu pod, are available in three flavour options: Strawberry Ice, Lemon Lime and Mint. The kits carry an RSP of £5.99 each, providing a competitive vaping solution for today’s next generation nicotine market.
The blu box kit is also compatible with the entire range of blu pod flavours, helping customers as they transition to alternative products after the disposable vape ban. The blu pod packs include 2 x blu pods to deliver 2,000 puffs per pod pack, with an RSP of £5.99 per pack.
Imperial Brands anticipates it will be popular with adult vapers in the 20-30 age group, particularly female customers who prefer discreet devices which fit within the palm of their hand.
