Germany is facing a 'market shift'? Half of the tobacco oil is missing?

According to the latest data reported by the German Electronic Cigarette Trade Association (VdeH), the amount of cigarette oil in Germany has decreased by half, and the number of electronic cigarette retail physical stores has decreased to about 1000, a basic decrease of 30%. The core reason for this is the market shift brought about by Germany's high tobacco tax and market competition.
As a result, the number of e-cigarette stores has decreased. The German Electronic Cigarette Trade Association pointed out that the number of physical sales points in professional electronic cigarette retail stores in Germany has decreased by about one-third, to about 1200. The analysis also points out that the majority of the market in the German e-cigarette industry is dominated by small and medium-sized e-cigarette companies that are not tobacco companies. However, due to ongoing problems in implementing tobacco tax reform, many small shops have had to close. It also pointed out that more and more non professional retailers in Germany are flooding their sales outlets into the market to sell disposable e-cigarettes.
Replacement products will replace disposable ones!
According to data from the German Electronic Cigarette Trade Association (VdeH), the proportion of disposable equipment in the current German market is only 24.2%, a decrease of 30%; And the POD of the pre filled system accounts for 22.1%, which is basically new for ammunition replacement.
Open POD devices account for 11.1%.
More rechargeable cartridges are favored by the market because they are equally convenient and practical to use, without any environmental issues.
Is the tobacco oil product system changing?
According to the German Electronic Cigarette Trade Association (VdeH), there has been a significant shift in product categories in the German electronic cigarette market, with the proportion of tobacco oil products in the product range decreasing by about half.
Due to high taxes and market competition, the proportion of basic liquid products has even decreased by over 96%, making them almost no longer important in the professional retail of e-cigarettes.
However, there is growth in the bottled oil market, with 10 ML bottled tobacco oil accounting for 13%.
At present, the compliance procedures in the German e-cigarette market are relatively cumbersome and require more time. The packaging and compliance information of German e-cigarette products require strict regulation, which requires brand manufacturers to invest more costs in this area. In addition, if the product is labeled with a "warning label" in another country, it cannot be directly sold in Germany and needs to be reprocessed to comply with German regulatory requirements.
Since Germany imposed a tax on tobacco oil, many smaller distributors have stopped operating within three months. In addition, some brands also face certain limitations and increased costs.
It can be said that before 2021, there was almost no market for one-time sales in Germany, but there was a significant market sales contribution from 2021 to 2022. Now, by the end of 2023, this market may also be changing. It now appears that in the German market, the share of pre filled closed pod systems is constantly increasing. These are simple rechargeable devices that only require replacing the liquid box. In the medium term, these devices will largely replace disposable devices.
It is also pointed out that the upcoming restrictions on seasoning products are greatly slowing down the further development of the market. It is expected that the market will continue to grow in 2023, but it will flatten out in 2024. Because the tobacco industry started selling its own disposable e-cigarettes for the first time in 2023, its sales contributed to the overall sales growth. But this positive trend will not be sustainable in this form.
Perhaps many companies will start betting on the future of Germany and even Europe, which has a market of over 3 million e-cigarette users.