Londoners lead by a wide margin in vape spending

London adults spend the most on vape products per year, reveals a new research by Vype which looked at the vaping culture in the UK cities.

Purchases made by Londoners make up 40 per cent of Vype’s total UK sales as UK adults spent close to £7million on vape products between January and October of 2020.

London leads the charge when it comes to top cities by sales, spending more than double that of Birmingham residents in the same period.

Leeds, which came in fourth in spending behind Glasgow, is home to the most bricks-and-mortar vape shops per square mile. The northern city has 18 vape shops per square mile, while London only just features in the top five with only 13 shops. Rounding out the top five are Edinburgh with 17 shops, York with 15 shops, and Sheffield with 14 shops per square mile.

With the UK’s Menthol Ban implemented back in May, varieties of mint are the favourites for online buyers this year, the study showed.

Crisp Mint is currently leading as the best-selling Vype flavour, followed by Blended Tobacco and Dark Cherry.

The top selling flavours across the UK were consistent across England, Scotland, and Wales. The only region this differs in, is Northern Ireland, where Crushed Mint is their best-selling Vype flavour.

A consumer survey commissioned by the brand has shown that adults in Brighton are the least affected by others vaping around them, with 43 per cent of respondents answering that it doesn’t bother them when this happens.

In Belfast, people would be more likely to allow another person to vape in their home or car, with 23 per cent saying they would, more than any other city. Belfast is also home to the largest group of adults who vape as an alternative to smoking (21%), followed by adults in Glasgow (also 21%).

Almost half of Glaswegians (48%) say they don’t feel judged by others for vaping in public, the survey found, and they are followed closely by adults in Nottingham (44%) and Liverpool (42%).

Liverpool is also home to adults who have vaped the longest – almost two thirds (58%) of respondents say they have vaped for three years or more. Adults in Liverpool are also the most likely to vape at their place of work, with 33% admitting to doing so.

In Manchester, over a third of respondents (39%) from the city do already or would consider vaping in the future – that’s more than any other city.

Two in five (40%) of the UK’s adult vapers are open about vaping, saying that everyone that knows them knows that they do. Females are more likely to be open about this fact, with 42 per cent saying that everyone knows they vape, compared to only 39 per cent of men saying the same.

Among non-vapers, just under a third (31%) of survey respondents said it doesn’t bother them if someone vapes near them.

Commenting on the research, Aftab Saleem, head of e-commerce, UK&I at Vype said: "it's great to see that the biggest reason adult nicotine consumers are turning to vape products is that they are looking for a smoke-free alternative, followed by the fact they enjoy the taste. That certainly is represented in the UK's top flavours, with classic flavours coming out on top across the board.

“We are glad to be giving consumers an alternative to physical shopping too to allow them to continue to choose an alternative nicotine product. Now more than ever we need to help consumers achieve their shopping goals in other ways, whilst some non-essential stores are closed for business"