11 / 48
26
TOBACCO BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL
JULY/AUGUST 2015
C-Stores Gain
Ground in Cig Sales
As cigarette sales continue to dip, the convenience
channel seems to be gaining ground.
A
ccording to sales data from
Management Science Associates
for the first half of 2014, premium
cigarette sales volumes are continuing to
dip, with c-stores showing a slight gain
in market share. Even as sales declined by
3.8 percent in all outlets versus a year ago,
according to distributor shipment data,
convenience stores claimed an additional
1 percent of the overall premium cigarette
volume. C-stores seem to be siphoning
share primarily from the drug store and
mass merchant retail channels.
In the discount cigarette category,
overall volumes declined by 6.3 percent,
again with c-stores claiming another 1
percent of overall share to reach a total
of 70 percent.This time, however, share
came at the expense of tobacco outlets.
The following charts show retail
channel sales data for the first half of
2014.
TBI
Cigarette Sales Trends
CATEGORY MANAGER
1%
2%
3%
6%
7%
8%
73%
74%
8%
3%
3%
6%
6%
1%
Warehouse Clubs
Mass Merchandise
Liquor
Grocery
Drug
Tobacco Outlets
Convenience
Share of Premium Cigarette Volume by Trade Class
2013
2014
2013:
47 billion sticks
2014:
45 billion sticks
Source: Retail Shipment Data most recent
13 weeks through 6/28/2014 vs. YAGO.
Volume is reported as individual serving.
In the discount
cigarette category,
overall volumes
declined
with c-stores
claiming
another
1% of overall
share to reach
a total of
6.3%
70%