mustybadger
Postman
- Joined
- May 17, 2016
- Messages
- 969
Main reason is that most B&M's cater to the enthusiast and tend to neglect the beginner. A successful B&M will appeal to a specific demographic (newbies and, dare I say, the older generation), or at least include a large selection for that demographic. People that have no clue what they are looking to buy and people that don't have / don't want to order gear online. That's not to say that they can't cater for the enthusiast, but I tend to find that B&M's are set up by experienced vapers (of course), so they gear their shop to appeal to them, not their customers. It is also a MASSIVE put-off for "regular" people when they go into a vape shop to buy a new starter kit, or look for a bit of 70PG 18mg liquid, see teenagers behind the counters with backwards caps on, blowing enormous clouds. It's a fucking business, people, not a place for you and your mates to do a lunchtime cloud comp.
There's a few vape shops around me, all set up with the latest triple 18650 mod, the latest cloudsbro RDA, the latest sub-ohm tank, their shelves stocked to the brim with 80VG+ 0-6mg nicotine juices etc...and they are dead whenever I go in there. On the other hand, there's a market stool, setup by a reputable B&M, but sells great beginner gear. Ego batteries, Aspire K series atties, Nautilus', etc...and it's ALWAYS rammed, and rammed with the target demographic. The older generation, the newbie, the "I don't care about anything apart from getting the same liquid I've vaped for the past 3 years" type and they tell me that their market stool brings in almost 4 times as much revenue as their B&M.
Unfortunately, the huge lack of business acumen in a large number of vape shop owners is the main reason most vape shops are not successful. Don't try to compete with online, you wont win, try and build something that appeals to people NOT buying online and at least try to give a shit about how your business looks to the regular consumer instead of using it as a personal stockist for your latest RDA or favorite e juice. Also, don't come up with the bright idea of opening a shop, 10 miles away from any highstreet, in a trading estate, that requires people to use google maps to find it...
There's a few vape shops around me, all set up with the latest triple 18650 mod, the latest cloudsbro RDA, the latest sub-ohm tank, their shelves stocked to the brim with 80VG+ 0-6mg nicotine juices etc...and they are dead whenever I go in there. On the other hand, there's a market stool, setup by a reputable B&M, but sells great beginner gear. Ego batteries, Aspire K series atties, Nautilus', etc...and it's ALWAYS rammed, and rammed with the target demographic. The older generation, the newbie, the "I don't care about anything apart from getting the same liquid I've vaped for the past 3 years" type and they tell me that their market stool brings in almost 4 times as much revenue as their B&M.
Unfortunately, the huge lack of business acumen in a large number of vape shop owners is the main reason most vape shops are not successful. Don't try to compete with online, you wont win, try and build something that appeals to people NOT buying online and at least try to give a shit about how your business looks to the regular consumer instead of using it as a personal stockist for your latest RDA or favorite e juice. Also, don't come up with the bright idea of opening a shop, 10 miles away from any highstreet, in a trading estate, that requires people to use google maps to find it...
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