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After breaking the e-commerce channel, the offline channel will become the only export of e-cigarettes.

Editor’s note: This article is from Tencent Technology, author Li Yue Sun Hongchao.

Key focus:

• 1 Through investigation and research, it is found that adolescents are one of the main marketing targets of e-cigarettes. Once a minor is addicted to addiction, it will also encourage minors to smoke ordinary cigarettes. Because of the addictive nature of nicotine, it can also cause harm to the physical and mental development and health of minors.

• 2 Li’s Taobao’s Li said to the “Deep Net” that the platform does not have any power to prevent legally compliant e-cigarette sales. “The ban on the night (315 party) did not have a real impact on sales.”

• 3 The e-commerce platform’s real-name registration also does not help e-commerce platforms that can verify consumer identity to continue to sell e-cigarettes, leaving only those offline channels that cannot force purchasers to verify their identity.

• 4 After disconnecting the e-commerce channel, the offline channel will become the only export of e-cigarettes. In this export, traditional tobacco brands cannot identify how to reject minors.

• 5In China, because there is no strict offline purchase restriction, e-cigarettes will have difficulty controlling sales to minors, not to mention that relatively mature minds are more vulnerable to marketing channels. influences.

The barbaric e-cigarette industry is welcoming an important turning point today.

On November 1, the State Administration of Markets Supervision and the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration jointly issued a document saying that all types of market entities are not allowed to sell electronic cigarettes to minors, urging e-commerce platforms to close e-cigarette stores in a timely manner and timely timely e-cigarette products. Dismounted.

The National Tobacco Monopoly Bureau said that on August 28, 2018, the State Administration of Markets and the State Tobacco Monopoly Bureau issued the Notice on Prohibiting the Sale of Electronic Cigarettes to Minors (hereinafter referred to as the “Notice”). Since the publication of the “Notice”, the awareness of the community to protect minors from e-cigarettes has generally increased, and the phenomenon of directly promoting and selling e-cigarettes to minors has improved. But at the same time, it is also found that minors still know, buy and smoke electronic cigarettes through the Internet. Even e-cigarette companies are blindly pursuing economic interests, and publicizing, promoting and selling e-cigarettes through the Internet poses a huge threat to the physical and mental health of minors. To further protect minors from e-cigarettes, the relevant matters are hereby notified as follows:

Electronic cigarettes, as a supplement to traditional tobacco products such as cigarettes, have significant safety and health risks, in the selection of raw materials, the use of additives,Process design, quality control and other aspects are more random, and some products have potential safety hazards such as smoke oil leakage, inferior batteries, and unsafe ingredients. In accordance with the relevant provisions of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Minors, in order to strengthen the protection of the physical and mental health of minors, various market entities may not sell electronic cigarettes to minors. Any organization or individual should dissuade and stop the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors.

The e-cigarette companies responded quickly after the State Administration of Markets and the National Tobacco Monopoly Bureau issued a document.

Xing Chenyue, the chief scientist of Xiwu Electronic Cigarette, said in the “Deep Net” that “(E-cigarette) can only fight products and research and development, which is very consistent with our original intention. Do not speculate marketing, do not attract young people, positioning Mature smokers put their energy on research and development.”

Yue Ying CEO Wang Ying and FLOW E-cigarette CEO Zhu Xiaomu and others have also shared their support in the circle of friends to support the relevant ban.

So, what impact does the ban have on the development of the electronic cigarette industry?

Although the rectification is still offline, the e-commerce channel

This off-the-shelf behavior focuses on protecting minors to strengthen protection for minors.

In China, relevant laws and regulations have long clearly stipulated that electronic cigarettes should not be sold to minors. The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which was signed by China in 2006 and approved by the World Health Organization, stipulates: “Prohibition of the production and sale of confectionery, snacks, toys or any other physical objects in the shape of tobacco products that are attractive to minors”. The Law on the Protection of Minors clearly stipulates that “the sale of tobacco and alcohol to minors is prohibited”. Xiong Jingfan, deputy secretary-general of Shenzhen Tobacco Control Association, said that through investigation and research, young people are one of the main marketing targets of e-cigarettes. Once minors are addicted to addiction, they will also encourage minors to smoke ordinary cigarettes. Because of the addictive nature of nicotine, it can also cause harm to the physical and mental development and health of minors.

An industry insider also said to the “Deep Net”: In fact, last year the relevant state departments issued a notice on the prohibition of selling electronic cigarettes to minors, and the protection of minors from e-cigarettes was generally enhanced. This time, I believe that it is to strengthen coordination with relevant departments and investigate and deal with illegal and illegal sales of electronic cigarettes. It can be said that it is a reshuffle.

At the 315th party this year, e-cigarettes were exposed by CCTV. The test results show that there are tens of times or even hundreds of times more than the maximum allowable concentration of formaldehyde in the indoor air, as well as a large amount of propylene glycol and glycerin, which have a strong stimulating effect on the respiratory tract.

This kind of criticism did not affect the channel. Li, a shopkeeper of the Beijing e-cigarette line, told the “Deep Net” that there was already news in the electronic cigarette circle that morning that it might be 315 points, the most in the industry. Worried reports focus on e-cigarette qualification issues, and when the report is only focused on e-cigarettes, it is also harmful to the human body, consumers are notIn order to catch up with another misunderstanding in the fashion, Li’s e-cigarette WeChat group has clap their hands and celebrates that they have “passed off”.

The e-commerce platforms that have been offline of e-cigarettes have lifted the e-cigarettes in one week or even the same day. Li, who also opened Taobao, told Deepnet that the platform has no power to prevent legal compliance. The sale of electronic cigarettes, “The ban on the night did not have a real impact on sales.”

This naming criticism still sounded the alarm for the e-commerce platform. In October of this year, the Jingdong platform showed that if you search for e-cigarette-related products in the Jingdong PC/small program, you can’t buy it directly. You must use the mobile phone scan code to complete the purchase in Jingdong APP. JD.com responded that this is because the identity must be checked when purchasing e-cigarettes/smoke oil/cigarettes.

Taobao platform began to clean up the false propaganda of e-cigarette products in October, saying that some electronic cigarettes have some false, misleading descriptions or use of cigarette brand information. According to the “Advertising Law”, “Advertising may not contain false or misleading content, and may not deceive or mislead consumers” and other relevant regulations. Taobao platform will take a number of measures to rectify. Previously, Taobao, Tmall and other e-commerce platforms also restricted the purchase of e-cigarette products by minors through real-name registered Alipay.

But these efforts can’t help e-commerce platforms that can verify consumer identity continue to sell e-cigarettes, leaving only those offline channels that cannot force buyers to verify their identity. As of the deadline for publication, the company has indicated that it will quickly dismantle and withdraw the store in accordance with relevant regulations. Alibaba and JD.com said that they are communicating, and they are still unable to make a public response.

As of press time, many home appliance platforms still have e-cigarette sales.

Forbidden “sale” is easy, ban “promotion” is difficult

The e-cigarette companies responded quickly after the State Administration of Markets and the National Tobacco Monopoly Bureau issued a document.

Xing Chenyue, the chief scientist of Xiwu Electronic Cigarette, said in the “Deep Net” that “(E-cigarette) can only fight products and research and development, which is very consistent with our original intention. Do not speculate marketing, do not attract young people, positioning Mature smokers put their energy on research and development.”

Yuexiang said on Weibo to support the decision, “Yuede does not serve minors.” And said that under the guidance of relevant departments, using AI intelligence, face recognition, age verification, children Locking design and other available technology means that every online sales outlet will only serve adult smokers and will not serve minors.

FLOW e-cigarette founder and CEO Zhu Xiaomu said in his circle of friends, “We firmly support national laws and regulations, and we will fully cooperate with policy adjustments and make appropriate arrangements.”

But it’s worth noting that the Internet (e-commerce) channel brings not only sales, but also brand promotion to e-cigarettes. In today’s post, it is clearly stated: “At the same time, it is also found that there are still minors. People know, buy and smoke e-cigarettes through the Internet. Even e-cigarette companies are blindly pursuing economic interests, and publicizing, promoting and selling e-cigarettes through the Internet poses a huge threat to the physical and mental health of minors.”

Industry tells “Deep Net”: “Those brands that rely on marketing are much more online than offline.” Compared with traditional tobacco brands, e-cigarette players, especially the latest players, are marketing. Good hand:

“Flow Fulu” is an e-cigarette brand founded by Zhu Xiaomu, the second person of Hammer Technology. When Luo Yonghao released his social products, he also helped his platform to cheer; “YOOZ grapefruit” is known as “the first constellation” Cai Yuedong, the founder of the same media, and the e-cigarette brand jointly launched by He Chang, the founder of “Net Red Catering Brand” Huang Taiji; the founding team of “LINX Lingxi” brought together a number of heads from the media, with data It shows that these heads have over 100 million coverage from the media.

These marketing players have almost all labeled “health” for e-cigarettes. Compared with the multiple constraints of traditional tobacco marketing, e-cigarette supervision is simply relaxed and conniving. On live broadcast platforms such as vibrato and fast hands, smoking is strictly regulated, but e-cigarettes are relatively loosely managed. In some cases, e-cigarettes have been linked to fashion products either intentionally or unintentionally. On some catwalk platforms, e-cigarettes have even become one of the accessories on models.

iDuck said in the slogan that smoking e-cigarettes is “returning to pride, purity and civilization – the lifestyle of Lohas”; FLOW mainly promotes the low harm of “second-hand smoke”, “every moment of life partner” – People around are more comfortable.” ThisIt is by no means an isolated case. At present, the promotion of e-cigarette products in China is almost always encouraged, and the aim is to let new smokers try.

In contrast, a traditional tobacco industry practitioner told Deepnet that although traditional cigarette companies are trying to sell e-cigarettes in tandem with traditional cigarettes, they will not promote the “health” of e-cigarettes. And “not addictive”, and the focus of the promotion will be “good to carry.”

Before you can’t get minors to buy e-cigarettes, how to prevent them from being promoted by marketing platforms may become the next major issue.

More difficult to control offline

After breaking the e-commerce channel, the offline channel will become the only export of e-cigarettes. In this export, traditional tobacco brands cannot identify how to reject minors.

In fact, the sales potential of tobacco, alcohol and even some foods is much higher than online. More than one offline retailer has said to Deepnet that the characteristics of these goods are: I want, I want it now, I think it’s best to suck, drink, and eat right away, instead of waiting for the courier to come to the door after the order.”

Fulu’s internal staff said that offline sales of Flow’s e-cigarettes were larger than online, but did not disclose the specific ratio. Yue Ying, the CEO of E-cigarette, has directly expressed more sharp offline sales to “Deep Net”, and the sales volume is probably “1:2, 1:3”.

In the United States, it is illegal to buy, try to buy, or smoke tobacco without legal age. According to the US Food and Drug Administration, when selling tobacco products to people under the age of 27, it is necessary to check the purchaser’s photo ID. If the purchaser is under the age of 18, then the tobacco product cannot be purchased. In addition, young people under the age of 18 in the United States can’t buy tobacco products on vending machines. Because the Food and Drug Administration also stipulates that in addition to adult-only places, vending machines are not allowed to be sold anywhere else.

This gives the United States a priority in controlling e-cigarettes. Online Juul has released a number of measures to limit the purchase of e-cigarettes by minors, such as closing social media accounts, requiring customers to provide names and births. The last four digits of the date, permanent address, and social security number are verified with the third party and cross-referenced to the public record to ensure that the customer is at least 21 years of age.

But in China, because there is no strict offline purchase restriction, it will be difficult for e-cigarettes to control sales to minors online, not to mention that relatively mature minds are more susceptible to marketing channels.

According to “Deep Net” to observe the offline channels on e-cigarettes, these channels have no restrictions on the age of smokers. Many offline and online shop owners also said to “Deep Net” that there is no way to limit Adults buy cigarettes. And as the average age of smokers only declines, traditional tobacco is already transforming into new types of tobacco (such as adding other flavors such as mint).A considerable number of smokers who try new types of tobacco will also choose to try a variety of e-cigarettes, often young people and even minors.

Li said to Shenbo that there is no way to control minors to purchase e-cigarettes. “It is impossible to ask consumers to show their IDs. There is no such permission.”

“I have seen e-cigarette products sold in toy stores. It needs channel control. High-school students and junior high school students have seen e-cigarettes in the canteens, where they make money faster and much easier.” Yao Xiaochao told Deep network”. A junior high school teacher even described to Deepnet that some students have transitioned from smoking cigarettes to e-cigarettes. Compared with traditional cigarettes, e-cigarettes are lighter in taste and more convenient to collect. It is difficult for schools to supervise this. “Many e-cigarettes Even traditional cigarettes are sold directly at convenience stores around some schools.”