What does a global pandemic do to the vaping industry?

Let us put aside the 2020 example of a global pandemic and ask ourselves what happens to certain industries if there is a sudden, but temporary, drop in clientele. Said example spans beyond global pandemics, such as during stock market crashes, and even in localized examples such as during food and drink tampering scares. In this case, what happens to the vaping industry when there is a sudden, but temporary, drop in customers?

An Abrupt Stop in Sales

The 2020 pandemic is a perfect example, so it will be used throughout this article. Certain industries are suffering more than others, especially smaller businesses. For example, some hair salons may have enough money and assets saved in order to weather a crisis like the Pandemic, but many smaller salons do not.

The comic book industry is a prime example of a business type that suffers during a pandemic. This is firstly because comic books is very much a walk-in business, and the transfer to online-only comics is likely to spell the end of mainstream comic book shops. Plus, comic shop owners are already suffering because the industry itself is collapsing, and the fact that comic book customers have gotten by quite happily without comics during the 2020 lock down, has helped them discover that maybe they do not need comics in their lives.

Comic Books and Vaping

The comic book industry was already struggling since it was losing ground to gaming, streaming services, and social media in terms of target audience. Then, factor in the divisive politics of horrifically offensive comic books featuring Safe Space and Snowflake (a middle finger to LGBT groups). Plus, the fact that comic book creators are lashing out at fans, calling them entitled, bigots and children.

However, the vaping and e-cig industry is doing well. It hasn't regained its 2017-18 peak, but it has not fizzled out like so many other cigarette smoking alternatives. Plus, unlike the comic book industry, there are no real factors working against vapers that didn't already exist when vaping first began. For example, there are few groups trying to ban it, and there have been no large or publicized embarrassments. The industry also continues to innovate. New products such as the RipStick from RipTide are evidence that manufacturers and retailers see a bright future for vaping.

Small Time Sellers

The vaping and comic industry may differ in terms of its overall success, but what about small businesses. Smaller comic book stores cannot weather a pandemic, and neither can smaller vaping stores and stalls. Smaller businesses do not have the tools, assets and savings to comfortably weather a pandemic and then restart when the lock down ends. Some try, but most will liquidate or fail upon reopening.

Small time comic book sellers have to deal with the fact that their customers have learned to live without comics, however, vape sellers have to deal with the fact they have lost their customers to grocery stores and chain corner shops since they are the only things that were open during the 2020 pandemic lock down.

Re-Educating and Re-Attracting Customers

Getting comic book fans to restart buying comics is tough but getting vapers to avoid chain stores in favor of smaller merchants is not that difficult. The vaping community seems to be fairly closely knit. It is similar to what the cigarette smoking community used to be in the 80s when people could smoke in restaurants and on planes.

Very few chain stores are staffed by vaping enthusiasts who are willing to chat about vape liquids for hours at a time, whereas smaller retailers are more than happy to chat away with their customers for hours and hours. Getting genuine vaping enthusiasts to come back to smaller retailers is not that difficult, but it is tricky right after a lock down or large sales-stopping event simply because people are in the habit of getting vaping goods from chain stores.

Conclusion - A Chance for Resurgence

If there is a sales stopping event, such as a pandemic, or tampering scandal, or war, or whatever, the vaping industry has the capacity to recover. It is true that smaller merchants and businesses will be put out of work, but once the dust settles and things return to normal, there is no reason why new merchants and new small businesses cannot start up and become successful.

Does this mean that the vaping industry is resilient and set to become a long-lasting institution? Nobody knows at this point since the vaping industry is still pretty new and untested. Plus, for all we know, vaping may become a historic pastime, like cigar smoking, or may become another fad like Cyber-pets. At the moment, only time will tell.