How to Make Your Vape Shop More Profitable

To an outsider, running a vape shop probably seems like an extremely profitable profession. E-liquid is very inexpensive to make, and vaping hardware is mass produced at very low cost by Chinese factories. In both cases, the differences between the wholesale and retail prices can be quite large.

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If you own a vape shop, though, you know that achieving your potential for profitability isn’t nearly as easy as it sounds. Your inventory costs are huge because you have to carry an enormous range of e-liquid flavors and strengths along with a wide selection of hardware and accessories. You probably pay higher insurance premiums than other types of businesses, and you definitely pay higher fees for payment processing. Running a vape shop is actually much more expensive than many people realize.

So, how do you maximize your vape shop’s profitability with all of the challenges you face? In this article, we’ll provide six tips that can help to make your vape shop more profitable.

Find a Better Wholesaler

The fastest way to increase your vape shop’s profitability is by reducing the amount that you spend on inventory. To do that, you need to get better rates from your existing distributor or find a better source of wholesale vape juice. It’s worth the effort to secure the best wholesale prices possible, either by negotiating with your wholesaler for better prices or by placing larger orders. Getting better wholesale rates instantly increases your vape shop’s profitability if you don’t change your retail prices. It can also enable to you lower your prices and increase your overall volume by becoming more competitive with other vape shops in your area.

Start a Customer Loyalty Program

Another way to make your vape shop more profitable is by offering a loyalty program that discourages your customers from going to competing vape shops. If you already have a loyalty program in place, you should examine it with a critical eye to make sure that it’s as fun and engaging as it can be. If you already have a loyalty program, are your customers surprised when they find out that they’ve accrued enough points for a discount? If that’s the case, you know that your loyalty program isn’t as engaging as it should be and that it isn’t really preventing your customers from shopping elsewhere.

How can you make your loyalty program more engaging? Firstly, it’s helpful to make sure that your customers actually know about it. Consider posting an overview of how your loyalty program works in a high-visibility area of your store. Secondly, it’s important for the rewards to be fun and exciting. Instead of giving people a flat discount when they earn enough points, consider giving them free products. Receiving a free bottle of vape juice, for instance, is a lot more fun than being given a 5-percent discount on products you’d buy anyway.

Don’t forget that if you use your point-of-sale system to manage your loyalty program, you’re probably also collecting your customers’ email addresses or phone numbers. You can use that information to keep in touch with customers and let them know about your latest promotions.

Offer a Gift for New Customer Referrals

Offering fun rewards is only one way to make your loyalty program more engaging. Another way to increase interest is by giving customers a way to earn points without spending money. Consider offering a large point bonus to customers who refer friends or family members to your store. Apply the bonus to the referring customer’s account after the referred customer buys his or her first vape kit.

Create Product Bundles to Encourage Larger Orders

Another way to get people to spend more money in your vape shop is by encouraging them to buy products they might not have purchased otherwise, and a great way to do that is by creating product bundles that pique customers’ interest.

For example, people who are new to vaping might be unsure about what type of product to buy first. For those people, you could create an “Introduction to Vaping” bundle consisting of one disposable vape, one refillable pod system and a bottle of vape juice. That bundle would be an easy way for a new vaper to experience the two most popular types of vaping devices and decide which one he or she prefers.

Product bundles can also encourage existing vapers to try new things. For example, you might consider starting a “Flavor of the Month” program. Each month, you could select a few different e-liquids with the same flavor profile – three mango or three custard e-liquids, for instance – and offer the bundle at a discounted price.

Offer Discounts for Bulk Purchases

Offering bulk discounts is one of the many tricks that successful vape shops use to increase average order values – and it’s a great way to encourage people to buy extra products when they come in to buy vape gear. There are several ways to handle a bulk discount offer. For instance, you could offer a flat discount. You might offer a 10-percent discount on the entire order for anyone who buys five or more bottles of vape juice. Alternatively, you could offer a tiered discount that gets better as people buy more. You could also offer a “Stocking Up” discount to anyone who buys a certain amount of e-liquid and a box of replacement coils or pods.

Keep New Products Coming In

One of the most important things for you to remember as a vape shop owner is that people who vape always enjoy trying new products – so it’s very wise to ensure that your customers always enjoy a steady flow of the latest vape juices, disposable vapes and other products. A great way to encourage people to spend more when they stock up on vape gear is by making sure that every time they come to your vape shop, they see something they haven’t seen before. New products keep vaping fresh and exciting, and they can also be great for your vape shop’s profitability.