The vaping and e-cigarette market is valued at USD 22.8 billion as of 2022, a noticeable rise compared to its USD 3 billion value in 2016. The rising numbers can be attributed to changing consumer habits, with people switching to vaping to curb their tobacco cravings.
While not all experts concur, some studies show that vaping has fewer health risks than smoking cigarettes, and that switching to vaping is easier due to its similarities to smoking. The customizing factor is another consideration. With the wide variety of mods, tanks, pens, and e-juice tastes available, creating your own ideal setup can be both entertaining and challenging. In general, vaping exhibits all the traits of a long-lasting enterprise. It’s a good time to start your B2B vaping business today.
An enterprise like a vape shop can be a challenge if you’re not aware of its ins and outs. There are regulations to consider and regularizations to take care of, especially in terms of order management.
Things To Consider When Starting A Vape Shop
Opening a vape store, like any other business, is a daunting task. But there are a few crucial elements that, if taken care of right away, can position your company for success in the future.
Create A Business Plan
Business plans are a standard starting point for any new venture. Your business plan creates clarity about areas like the goals of your vape shop, what markets you want to address, how the business will operate and who will be involved. Make sure your business plan covers basic areas of the vaping industry like the products and jargons.
Understand The Regulations
For a B2B eCommerce vape shop, it is essential that you understand the regulations of the locations you will be serving. Vaping and e-cigarettes are generally subject to the same rules that govern the sale and use of tobacco. Each state, as well as some localities inside states, has its own set of laws. To learn about the rules you must abide by and the permits you must obtain, it is crucial to contact the local authorities.
Choose A Vape-Friendly OMS
As an eCommerce, you don’t have to take orders and deliver them. E-juice can spill, vape pens must not be tampered with and other vape products must be handled with care. You must ensure safe delivery, proper order numbering and management, tracking accounts, and inventory management. While you can define your own Order Management System (OMS), it is ideal to go for an automated, streamlined vape-friendly solution like OrderCircle. Such an OMS comes equipped with easy categorization for inventory and automated handling of order, which can make life easy and help you focus on other aspects of growing your vape business.
Build A Team That Prioritizes Customer Experiences
In eCommerce, customers can just see the product. Hence, you need a team which can truly build a compelling experience around the products. Use your team to leverage an attractive website that shows the true potential of your products. Additionally, train your sales to customize experiences for your customers in two ways –
- They must provide recommendations based on your customer’s buying behavior, an easy data you can get from an automated OMS like OrderCircle.
- Deliver true to time and quality, which relies again on the efficiency of your OMS.
Smoking Social Media Presence
In a mobile-first world, if you’re not on social media, you are not reaching a large part of your potential customers. In order to stand out from the crowd, create attractive and meaningful content – varying from tips, recommendations or even something humorous that entertains your audience. The ‘retailtainment’ fairs well with followers, and can lead to higher conversion rates.
While these are some crucial considerations, we cannot emphasize enough on the need of a good automated OMS. Great customer experiences are built in shops that manage their orders well!
Why You Need A Cloud-Based OMS For Your Vape Shop
Cloud-based and automated OMSs are transforming the way businesses operate. It becomes especially important for eCommerce vape shops as a lot of delicate products are involved and minimizing errors is a priority. A few more reasons why cloud-based OMSs are best for a B2B eCommerce vape shop are:
- Better Customer Service: Getting vape orders wrong or delayed will not fit well with customers. Best customer service requires instant actions and honest commitments, which is not possible with a manual OMS. Cloud-based and automed OMSs store information and update your orders and inventory automatically.
- Streamlined Stocks: It is unprofessional to take orders to products you don’t have in your inventory. An automated OMS reminds you of low stocks. Additionally, you can categorize products according to their potency, volumes and other characteristics.
- Leverage Data and Analytics: Cloud-based OMSs offer you detailed analytics about orders, sales and inventory. You can leverage this information to plan the next steps of your business goals.
- Effortless Expansion: Vape industry is widespread with customers available across various geographies. Take your vape business beyond geographical and linguistic boundaries with an OMS like OrderCircle. It comes with options to cater to international markets and the opportunity to glocalize your operations in regional languages too. Hence, don’t just start a business, but also enjoy effortless expansion.
Start Your Vape Shop Today With OrderCircle
Want to know more about order management for a vaping business? OrderCircle caters to the vaping industry and wholesale B2B eCommerce vape stores. Get a free demo to understand what great order management can do to help your vape business grow. Click here to get started.
Read more:- 6 Tips for Vape Retailers to Save Money