United Wholesale Scotland (UWS) has launched a vaping distribution business, giving retailers across the UK access to exclusive brands with “market leading prices” and average margins of 50%.

The service, called United Vapes, launched last week and offers hundreds of lines from core convenience brands such as Elfbar, Lost Mary, SKE and IVG, as well as exclusive partners such as Japanese manufacturer Gippro. There are 16 brands working with UWS altogether.

United Vapes is available to retailers across the UK, with delivery fulfilled centrally from UWS’ warehouse in Glasgow. There are no minimum order requirements, although free delivery is only applicable to purchases of more than £150. Delivery to stores upon dispatch will take between two to seven days, with an option to pay extra for next-day or Saturday delivery.

UWS managing director Chris Gallacher told Better Retailing the firm is targeting tens of thousands of convenience stores across the UK with the service. He said: “We’ve got market leading pricing and a good product range.

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“Vaping is such an important category for convenience retail and now is the right opportunity for us to go across to the rest of the UK. We’re always looking at new channels for growth and United Vapes can bring cash and carry prices delivered to a retailer’s door.

“There will be email campaigns sent directly to retailers advertising the service. It won’t just be for retailers within our own estate. We’ll be targeting those with some of our biggest competitors. We want to help retailers across the UK grow in the vaping category. There’ll be a good breadth of range in comparison to some of our competitors.”

UWS ecommerce and marketing director, Louise McKenzie added some of the brands working with the wholesaler will launch in the UK for the first time.

She said: “One of the brands is a Japanese company Gippro and they’re one of the top selling vape companies in New Zealand, Australia and Central Asia. They’re already in more than 400 retailers and they’re launching exclusively into the UK with United Wholesale Scotland.

“We’re partnering with companies to do multiple point of sale campaigns for our launch into England. Some of our partnerships with specific suppliers will also offer exclusive deals which nobody else can match.

“United Vapes will be the exclusive distributor of brands that nobody else can offer. We can be ahead of the curve and we want to cement ourselves as the market leader for compliant vapes.”

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