72
TOBACCO BUSINESS
MARCH/APRIL 2014
C-STORE CORNER
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
SALES
OTP
Cigarettes
OTP
+6.7%
CIGARETTES
-0.9%
Electronic Devices Gaining OTP Share
[that] there’s a lot of money at risk when we talk about
shuffling between those two major categories.”
Retailers also are cautious because no one knows when and
how the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will act
on major regulatory proposals, including a ban on menthol
cigarettes, harsher warning labels on smokeless tobacco, and
calls for more restrictions on e-cigarettes and flavored cigars.
Pending state legislation is also acting as a lock on the “latent
potential”of other tobacco products (OTP), he says.
“What retailers want is some clarity and certainty,”
Bishop says. While the right assortment of cigars and
smokeless offers growth potential for c-stores, “some of
these regulatory uncertainties could be game changers” for
those segments.
TB
OTP Sales Still Rising as Cigs Drop
Cigars
32.3%
SMOKELESS
56.8%
Electronic
nicotine devices
5.1%
Pipe/cigarette
tobacco
2.2%
PAPERS
3.5%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Tobacco Category Growth in C-Stores
Moist Smokeless
Cigars Break-Even Point
Snus
Loose
Electronic Nicotine Devices
SALES DOLLAR GROWTH
STRONGER
GM%
7.9%
.1%
2.7%
4.8%
65.9%
Source: NACS SOI data, BALVOR/CSNEWS Research,
December 2013; Nielsen data
While cigarettes still account for 90 percent of tobacco sales, sales of
OTP products are rising as cigarette sales drop.
