The world’s leading e-commerce sites are the most crucial sales channels for vapes. In 2023, the total sales of the e-cigarette category on Amazon US reached 1.2 billion US dollars, and the highest discount rate for individual products during promotional seasons (such as Black Friday) was 45%. For example, SMOK Novo 4 was priced at $29.9 originally but was temporarily reduced to $16.4 on the membership day. The daily sales volume exceeded 32,000 units, and the price movement standard deviation was only ± $2.3. It is worth noting that Amazon forcefully delists vape sales with nicotine content exceeding 20mg/mL. The rate of non-compliant product removal in Q1 2024 increased by 27% year-over-year. It is recommended to give priority to FCC/CE certified products (for example, Vaporesso XROS 3, 98.6% compliance rate).
Vertical B2B e-cigarette websites (e.g., Vape Wholesale and TradeVape) have reduced the selling price of vape through supply chain optimization. The tiered pricing is available for bulk purchases of more than 500 cigarettes, and the price of a single cigarette drops from $15 at the retail end to $8.2 (down by 45%). For example, if the Dubai distributor purchases Voopoo Drag S2 through TradeVape, the inbound and outbound cost with DHL shipping (3-5 days delivery) is $9.7 per unit, 37% below the local wholesale price, and the gross margin increases to 52%. According to industry reports, in 2023, 34% of the total B2B transaction volume of e-cigarettes were from such platforms, and the average annual repurchase frequency of users was 6.8 times.
Limited-time flash purchase and subscription model is vape sale’s incremental strategy. North American brand Juul launched a “Monthly Cartridge Subscription Plan” in 2024. Consumers who pay $99 in advance can get 12 cartridges (retail price $144), and the retention rate has increased to 73%. Data shows that yearly average consumption of subscription-based consumers ($258) is 41% higher than one-time customers. Meanwhile, during the “Super Brand Day” promotions on Chinese cross-border e-commerce sites such as AliExpress, the price of the RELX Phantom set was dropped from $49 to $32 (with a 15 yuan discount coupon for orders over 100 yuan), and the conversion rate hit 18% on that day. The median average transaction value grew from $28 to $53.
Social media private domain traffic is transforming the vape sale situation. The e-cigarette products promoted by TikTok influencers (e.g., Elf Bar BC5000) are sold through short-link renavigation, with an average traffic conversion rate of 12.7%, which is three times higher than that of traditional advertisement. In 2023, a sample survey discovered that 46% of Instagram e-cigarette theme posts included “24-hour limited-time discounts.”. Among them, the maximum click-through rate of vape sale links that YouTube review bloggers recommended was 22%, and the return rate was as low as 1.3% (the industry average was 5.8%). For instance, after blogger Mike Vapes reviewed the Lost Vape Ursa Nano, the weekly sales of the product increased by 340%, and the price increased from $34.9 to $39.9 while still maintaining an approval rating of 87%.
Logistics efficiency and compliance risk must be balanced. In 2024, the US FDA strengthened the PMTA review of vape sales. The detention rate of unapproved products by customs rose from 15% to 29%, which prolonged the average delivery time to 21 days (40% higher than in 2022). Suppliers who have chosen the Hong Kong transit warehouse have improved the success rate of European order delivery by 96% through the DDP (Dutiable Delivery) model and reduced logistics costs by 14% (for example, the shipping cost of 500 items delivered to Germany has decreased from 380 US dollars to 326 US dollars). Statista data demonstrates that in 2023 the cross-border return rate of compliant e-cigarettes was only 0.5%, far lower than the 7.2% of gray market products.