he Middle East, the Gulf region, distributed in more than 20 countries, the electronic cigarette consumer market is being targeted by many people!
- Perception of the Middle East geographical region
The Middle East, with a population of nearly 500 million and a broad tobacco consumption market, has become an important region for the substitution of new tobacco e-cigarettes.
In the industry, there are different views on the development market in the Middle East. The recognition of the geographical region determines the determination and value of enterprises to develop the Middle East region.
For example, some companies will divide Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Libya and other countries into the African region, and believe that Egypt is the e-cigarette gate in Africa. Similarly, in Turkey, because of its policy and geographical location, some of the e-cigarettes here come from Europe and Britain, and some come to Dubai in the Middle East。Some will include North Africa such as Egypt in the Middle East development, because most of Egypt’s e-cigarettes are transported from Dubai. Therefore, each enterprise has a different positioning of the view of this region.
In fact, geographically, the Middle East generally refers to West Asia and North Africa, about 24 countries, more than 15 million square kilometers. Because it is connected to Asia, Europe and Africa, and because of logistics, policy, culture and other factors, there are connections, but also differences.
However, there is no denying that the Dubai market in the United Arab Emirates has a radiation capacity for the transit transportation of global e-cigarettes. According to market research, Dubai’s e-cigarettes can not only enter any country in the Middle East region, but also enter Africa, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, and some Asian countries.
These make the Middle East not just a market, but a highly interconnected market. Across the Arab Middle East, West Asia, North Africa, Europe and other regions, This is why the decision to go deep into the Middle East market is important.
2、 market form
In the Middle East market, many companies focus on Dubai as the first step.
In fact, Dubai is the door to the Middle East has been the consensus of the industry, because of the logistics convenience and the phased results of market development, the entire Middle East e-cigarette trade channels in Dubai is still relatively large.
However, with the development of the industry and the influx of Chinese enterprises, the Middle East will assume the role of “electronic cigarette transfer station”, and use this as a springboard center to distribute more electronic cigarette products into the core countries in the Middle East.
At present, it has been learned that a number of Chinese e-cigarette companies are setting up offices and e-cigarette warehousing in Dubai in order to better serve the entire Middle East market. In contrast, more brands and factories have been transferred from Dubai to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Iraq and other countries to carry out business work, the business network into the Middle East.
From the market research data, Saudi Arabia is currently the Middle East’s largest e-cigarette sales country, monthly sales of more than 10 million; The second is the Bahrain market, because Bahrain will also cover Kuwait, Iraq and other countries.
3 logistics risk
In the Middle East, logistics risks are especially important.
Basically apart from Dubai, many countries in the Middle East should pay attention to the risk of logistics transport. Saudi Arabia and Egypt in particular.
Saudi Arabia, for example, still restricts the import of certain products for religious, health or security reasons, including alcoholic beverages, non-medical drugs, non-Muslim religious items, and weapons-related electronic devices. No visa is required to import goods into Saudi Arabia, and only citizens of the kingdom are allowed to import goods for resale. Any product imported into Saudi Arabia must comply with the country’s labeling and marking requirements. At present, Saudi Arabia allows licensed companies to import e-cigarette products for commercial purposes, but customs clearance in Saudi Arabia is difficult, and general goods are difficult. Saudi Arabia, as the largest country in the Arab region, has a considerable consumption of electronic cigarettes, which are usually transported by land or sea into the country. Kuwait and Bahrain, as well as Dubai, are among the importing countries.
In addition, some Middle Eastern countries that completely ban e-cigarettes are also more difficult to get through logistics. For example, Oman and Qatar in the Middle East not only ban e-cigarettes, but also have very strict laws, so these two countries can hardly do e-cigarette business for the time being. In Turkey and Iran, which are close to Europe, even if e-cigarettes are banned, they can be sold as long as they can enter.
4.brand growth distribution
Because there are many countries in the Middle East, it is difficult to form a leading enterprise in the entire region, but these are precisely the opportunities.
At present, open brands with a relatively high market share in the Middle East: GEEK VAPE, SMOK, VOOPOO, UWELL; open brands with a relatively fast market growth: OXVA. As for
disposable brands with a high market share, the industry recognizes three major brands: MAZAJ, YUOTO, TUGBOAT, and disposable brands with fast market growth: FUMMO and VGOD.
These fast-growing brands are quite distinctive in terms of product differentiation and have unique experience in laying channels. For example, Saudi Arabia’s most powerful disposable brand MAZAJ, its OEM in China, but its own brand in the Middle East, is a brand created by the Middle East royal family, won local characteristics and consumers love, especially Saudi Arabia.
Like FUMMO from Russia, its OEM is also in China, but FUMMO’s brand products are really exquisite, simple and impact-driven, deeply preferred by local channels and consumers, and it has also swept the Middle East market in a short time.
At present, the market share of Open tank system products in the Middle East is still relatively high, but in the past two years, a large puffof one-time products have made rapid progress, and the market sales share has exceeded that ofOpen tank system products. Because the relevant policies in the United Arab Emirates stipulate that the amount of e-cigarette e-juice injection cannot exceed 10ml, brands that have a certain market share in the local area have begun to adjust to compliance. However, on the other hand, the implementation of local policies is relatively loose, which gives a certain market opportunity for products with a large puff, such as 17ml disposable products, which are currently sold in many countries in the Middle East.
5 Analysis of individual cases
The market value of the Middle East has been gradually recognized by some leading enterprises in China.
ELF BAR, for example, is focusing on the Middle East this year. At present, a large number of brand promotion and channel distribution actions in the Middle East.
