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December, 2005 |
Smokeshop's Annual Tobacco Industry Report (page 3) 
Internet use in our 2004 survey was very similar to our 2003 survey, with both years significantly ahead of earlier ones. In all, 70% of retailers reported some type of Internet-based presence. For 2004, half of all retailers said they send email offers to a customer list and 32% had at the very least an informational website, with more than half of the survey respondents reporting more sophisticated use of online sales: 25% had a website with merchandise prices listed, 21% had a website with online purchasing capabilities, and 2% reported real-time inventory capabilities in their online order systems.
Promotional media use was up in many categories among retail shops, with 80% of respondents reporting they purchased the services of at least one type of advertising or promotional outlet. Newspapers and direct mail were the most popular media choices (each used by 44% of surveyed shops), followed by radio (27%) and magazines (10%). “Other” categories accounted for 39% of advertising efforts, with retailers citing phone book/Yellow Pages, cable/television, and online advertising. Only 5% of stores surveyed used mail order catalogs, and only 20% said they did no advertising at all. Retailers continue to reap the benefits of promotional events, with 64% reporting participation in off-site cigar events (18% in conjunction with a manufacturer), and 44% reporting in-store cigar events (31% in conjunction with a manufacturer) for an average of nearly five cigar events per store annually. Pipe events also remained popular: 11% of stores reported holding in-store pipe events with a manufacturer, 20% with no manufacturer involvement. Off-site pipe events remained limited in scope: only 9% of stores reported holding events, 4% in conjunction with a manufacturer. The average number of pipe events held annually remained low, on average between one and two events per year among our sample. Memberships clubs were offered by 7% of surveyed shops, compared to 22% in 2003 and 9% in 2001, while in-store smoking lounges were available in 73% of the surveyed shops, compared to only 42% in 2002.
Walk-in humidors were utilized by 67% of the surveyed shops; 38% reported using humidified display cases, while 7% humidified their entire store, all up from previous surveys. Electronic cash registers were used by 45% of the surveyed retailers in 2004, while the use of computer-based POS systems continued to rise from 32% in 2003 to 35% in 2004. Mechanical cash registers had a surprisingly high presence among this survey’s sample, in use by 20% of respondents. The typical smoke shop’s customer base remained predominantly male (74%) and between 35 and 49 years old (35% of all customers). The next-largest age group was 22 - 34 year-olds (25%). Typical staff sizes averaged 2.0 full-time employees per shop and 1.7 part-time employees, down overall from previous years. While sheer numbers can tell a significant story, it is also often the mood of survey respondents and the tobacco retail community at large that paints a bigger picture, and for many, 2004 reflected a return to growth in premium cigar sales.
SMOKESHOP - December, 2005 
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