Wholesale Vaping: What Retailers Should Know in 2024

With so many products, flavors, and innovations crashing into the market at once, the vaping industry is only growing. To stay ahead in 2024, retailers need to catch up with the latest trends and find out how to try and navigate the changing wholesale vaping landscape. As always, you need to understand what’s going on in the current vaping market trends, regulations, and consumer demands — whether you’re new to the wholesale vaping industry or want to improve your inventory.

In this blog, we will walk through everything retailers need to know about wholesale vaping in 2024 so that you can make informed decisions for your business.

Market Growth and Consumer Demand

Over the past couple of years, the vaping market has shown impressive growth, and it looks like in 2024, it will only continue booming. Several factors are driving the development of the vaping product demand — the decline of cigarette use, growing interest in other nicotine delivery devices, and the proliferation of vaping communities.

Key Statistics:

• The global market for vaping is expected to reach as high as $68 billion by 2028, and it’s growing 27% annually.
• Disposable vapes have exploded due to their convenience and flavor variety.
• As more consumers look for healthier ways to consume nicotine, there is also an increase in demand for nicotine-free vape wholesale vape products.

Top Products for 2024

Wholesale vape retailers should concentrate more on providing a large variety of the most popular wholesale vape products that are similar to consumer desires. Success in wholesale requires knowledge about which products do well in the market.

Trending wholesale vape products for 2024:

• Disposable Vapes: Initially emerged as a relatively small addition to the wholesale vaping industry, disposable vapes have exploded in popularity within vaping as one of the fastest-growing categories, fueled by their simplicity, portability, and extensive flavoring range. Some of the top disposable vape brands you’ll find wholesale are Elf Bar, Lost Mary, and Flum.
• Nicotine Salt E-Liquids: Attracted to these for a smoother vape with a higher nicotine content, nicotine salt e-liquids have gained popularity with former smokers looking for an easy delivery method. This customer base can be met by stocking a variety of salt-based e-liquids in common flavors.
• CBD and Nicless Vapes: In the process, CBD vape and nicotine-free vapes are becoming popular as more consumers seek alternative methods to maintain their wellness. For these growing categories, it is time for retailers to add a dedicated inventory line.

Diverse Flavor Selection

Flavor is critical in a customer’s decision to purchase a vape product. Offering a broad spectrum of flavors is essential to cater to new and experienced vapers. When stocking wholesale vape flavors, consider the following trends:

• Fruity Flavors: Vapers can’t get enough of fruity e-liquids. Consumers always prefer refreshing, exotic flavors like mango, blueberry, and watermelon.
• Menthol and Iced Flavors:  One common example is that menthol is still found widely in fruit flavors. A cooling effect leads to an increased demand for ice versions of popular fruit flavors such as mango ice and lychee ice.
• Dessert and Tobacco Blends:  Everything from vanilla custard to strawberry cheesecake still draws in those with a taste for sweeter and richer profiles, which won’t change any time soon. On the one hand, former smokers of cigarettes may choose e-liquids with tobacco or even coffee flavor.

When choosing wholesale vape flavors, aim to balance popular, tried-and-true options and new, innovative blends that can attract adventurous vapers.

Compliance with Regulations

Retailers need to stay compliant in the heavily regulated wholesale vaping industry. Soon industry regulations for vape products will become even tighter with flavor bans, nicotine limits, and packaging laws, too. Already, some regions have restricted some flavors, including fruit and dessert, out of fear of youth appeal.

Key regulations to watch:

• Flavor Bans: Several countries and states are considering or have already passed flavor bans on all non-tobacco and non-menthol e liquids. To avoid stocking non-compliant products, it is important for retailers to have knowledge of their region’s specific laws.
• Packaging Requirements: Rules are more strict on child resistant packaging and clearly labeled on the use of nicotine. These regulations have to be met by manufacturers and as a retailer you have to buy products from the wholesalers who provide the compliant products.

It’s important to keep up with regulatory news so you don’t incur fines and legal complications.

Maximizing Profit Margins

If you want to make it big in the wholesale vaping business, you need to make the most of your profit margins. A retailers’ ability to achieve this is dependent on their knowledge of which products return the most and where to place the stock.

How to increase profitability:

• Bulk Purchasing: If product size is the same, however, purchasing in larger quantities could save money and increase profit margins. Try out those wholesalers who offer good bulk pricing on the popular items such as disposable vapes and nicotine salts.
• Promotions and Bundles: One way to do this is to bundle deals or multi-packs on best-selling items to encourage larger customer purchases resulting in more revenue for you.
• Private Labeling: To differentiate themselves from the large number of retailers, and to sell their own, different and unique products, some retailers choose private labeling wherein they buy the products from other brands and sell them under their brand tag.

Competitive pricing is a crucial facet of the profitability equation, but when you smartly balance between keeping your customers coming back to you while staying competitive with other pricing you’ll maximize profit margins.

Marketing Your Wholesale Vape Business

Once you've stocked your shelves with high-demand vaping products, you must market your offerings effectively. In 2024, digital marketing and community engagement will be crucial in helping retailers stand out.

Marketing strategies:

• Leverage Social Media: Many companies are realizing that Instagram, Facebook and TikTok are powerful tools for reaching vapers for regular showcasing of trends and promotions.
• Email Campaigns: Targeted email campaigns to your customer base based on special offers, new products, industry news.
• Influencer Partnerships: If you collaborate with vape influencers or bloggers, your brand’s visibility will increase and drivers to your store will result.

Conclusion

With wholesale vaping becoming a hot commodity in 2024, retailers know it is a lucrative opportunity, but success hinges on being in the know about market trends, consumer preferences and regulatory developments. Staying compliant with rules surrounding local laws and stocking the right products, such as disposable vapes, nicotine salts, or CBD-infused e-liquids, will position your business for growth. With sustainability and putting your best foot forward on competitive pricing and intelligent marketing initiatives, you can grow your profits while business continues to change in the vaping industry.