The use of the Internet continued to climb among retailers. Last year, 57% of shops reported using email in some manner, up from 47% in 2000. In addition, more stores were using websites: 27% reported they had an informational website (21% in 2000); 19% had a website with merchandise prices listed (11% in 2000); and 29% had a website with online purchasing capabilities (15% in 2000).

The long-term growth of credit card acceptance continued in 2001, with 95% of surveyed stores reporting they accepted Visa and MasterCard (up from 87% in 2000); 86% accepted American Express and related cards (up from 74% in 2000); and 79% accepted Novus/Discover (compared to 74% in 2000). The number of shops offering in-house or store terms rose slightly to 13%, up from 11% in our last survey.

In 2001, only 13% of surveyed stores said they did no advertising at all, down from 16% in our 2000 survey. Newspaper ads remained the most popular media choice (used by 44% of surveyed shops), followed by "other" categories (35%), which included Cable TV and special advertising venues such as diner placemats. Direct mail was utilized by 32% of stores, radio by 27%, and magazines by 13%. Only 9% of stores surveyed used mail order catalogs.

Promotional events remained popular, with nearly half of all surveyed stores holding in-store cigar events (51% in conjunction with a manufacturer), for an average of five events annually. Offsite cigar events with a manufacturer's involvement were reported by 21% of surveyed shops, at an average of two events annually.

Pipe events showed a jump in popularity: 17% of stores reported holding in-store pipe events with a manufacturer, compared to 7% in 2000. Offsite pipe events remained limited in scope: only 1% of stores reported holding one in conjunction with a manufacturer. The average number of pipe events held annually remained low, however: only one event per year.

Other types of events that retailers reported participating in were wine events, cigarette events, beer festivals, and sports venues including racing and motorcycle events.

Two customer amenities gained in popularity among retailers last year. Memberships clubs were offered by 9% of surveyed shops, compared to 7% in 2000, while in-store smoking lounges were available in 76% of the surveyed shops, compared to only 54% in 2000.

Retailers that had walk-in humidors in their shops amounted to 55% of the surveyed sample; 19% reported using humidified display cases, while 6% humidified their entire store.

The use of electronic cash registers among the surveyed retailers reached 58% in 2001, up from 51% in 2000. Computer-based POS systems jumped from 13% in 2000 to 23% last year among our sample, while mechanical cash registers continued to vanish, used by only 18% of stores in 2001, compared to 22% in 2000.

The typical smoke shop's customer base remained predominantly male (78%) and between 35 and 49 years old (42% of all customers). The next-largest age group was 22-34 year-olds (23%).

Typical staff sizes among the surveyed shops was smaller in 2001 than the previous year, with an average of 2.2 full time employees per shop (versus 2.9 in 2000), and about two part-time employees, compared to 2.3 in 2000. The majority of employees were male (68%).

Among the sample, 77% of the stores were RTDA members, while 21% belonged to other trade groups.