COVID19 was first identified in December 2019 in China and globally, as of 13th February 2021, there have been 107,838,255 confirmed cases of COVID-19 during the content creation of this article, including 2,373,398 deaths, reported to WHO (World Health Organisation). To bring this pandemic to an end, a large share of the world needs to be immune to the virus. Over a year later, and with vaccines starting to be rolled out there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel. The challenge for the world now is to get vaccines available to everyone, and this is something all countries are going to need to work together to do.
Coronavirus has had a massive impact on all businesses world wide, some businesses have flourished, some have perished, and some are still struggling but fighting strong. Many businesses have been able to adapt, encouraging staff to work from home, offices, call centres and other similar companies have continued to operate.
Unfortunately, not all businesses have the ability to work from home and there’s been many extra costs to them and a loss of money. Today we will be looking at how Covid 19 has affected the vaping industry, we will talk about the online vape shop and the local vape shops.
Local Vape Shops
Vape shops have become a bit of a social hub In the past few years. Local vape shops aren’t just a place to stock up on supplies. This was a place where you could talk to staff and other customers to gain more information about vaping. Building new coils, and experiencing new e liquids was all part of the journey, and vape shops provided that framework for vaping to flourish. When Coronavirus started, such shops would have been a watering hole for the virus, small shops packed with people, maybe possibly even sharing devices, you can see where this could end badly.
Lockdown started and this caused vape shops to close up, originally back in March 2020 we only expected this to be for a couple of weeks, but here we are a year later and it feels like we aren’t that much closer to shops being open again. Luckily most vape shops also have an online presence which has enabled them to keep some, if not all of their staff on and have continued trading. Some local vape shops have also provided delivery instead of postage which has meant that people have been able to get their liquids on the same day. Other vape shops have allowed collection which has meant no extra costs to customers.
Not all local vape shops have an online webstore, and this left many shops in a dilemma, creating a website and adding all your products is not a quick and easy task. The time and money it takes to get a website up and running can be a lot, but if this meant keeping your business going then this is a necessity. Though it seems many shops have not been able to keep up with costs and bills which has resulted in them closing.
Online Vape Stores
Only 20 years ago the majority of people were oblivious to the existence of the internet as a place to shop and many believed this was just a fad and it wouldn’t work. Now look at the world, people are no longer restricted by store opening times and you can buy nearly anything you want with a few clicks of a button. The internet has come a long way, and you’re not short for choice of where you can buy your desired items from.
With the internet and online stores being the future, why wouldn’t there be online vape stores? With Lockdown preventing people from shopping in their local stores you would think all online shops would be loving it. Though stores have seen an increase in sales, it still hasn’t been smooth sailing. Covid 19 has also affected online stores in many ways.
For anyone who has ordered anything online, not just e liquids, you have probably been faced with delays on your parcel. Covid-19 has caused disruption everywhere including delivery companies such as Royal Mail, Hermes and DPD. Royal Mail takes on 30,000 temporary staff over the Christmas period to help with the demand of letters and parcels being sent, in December 2020, they took on an additional 15,000 staff to help assist as there has been many new measures put in place to help social distancing. It has just been announced that Royal Mail are keeping on 10,000 of their temporary staff to continue helping.
Online vape shops have had to deal with a increase of customer complaints due to not receiving their parcels on time. Where 1st class should typically take 1-2 working days to be delivered, customers are facing delays of up to 10 working days. Any good company knows the importance of customer service and so this creates many issues. Should companies tell customers to simply wait? Many companies have ended up re-sending parcels out tracked at no extra cost to customers. Companies are too worried about losing customers and getting bad reviews and so sending extra stock out is their only option, though this results in extra costs to the company.
Delivery services for everyone has been affected, this also means companies purchasing new stock and replenishing stock has had major delays and sometimes even lost stock. You can imagine how this would drastically affect a company to make money. Not only are online vape shops having to send double products out for lost/ delayed deliveries but also not having further stock to sell. If Covid-19 delays wasn’t bad enough there is also many problems with customs due to Brexit. Many people voted to leave the EU because it would leave Britain in a better position but that’s not what we have. There’s been situation where stores have been waiting or over a month for deliveries with orders being stuck at customs.
Result of Covid19
As you can see there has been may disruptions for both physical and online stores. All vaping stores are being affected by Covid in one way or another and it’s not been an easy task getting through the pandemic and all we can hope for is for vaccines to be rolled out sooner so that we can all get back to living our lives and for small businesses to get back on track.
We understand that it is frustrating when you don’t get your parcels on time but we strongly recommend reaching out to the company you purchased from as often they are unaware if your order has been affected by delays. It’s always best as-well to choose a tracked service when ordering online as this means that you can see exactly where your parcel is. Companies are doing their best to continue operating which means their staff are able to continue working.
For those of you who are looking for some great online vape deals you can find a whole range of flavours at Jumponthevape
Vaping And COVID19
We also wanted to take the time just to explain about vaping and Covid-19. E-cigarettes can be a great effective aid to quitting smoking and becoming smoke free. Research and evidence on the health risks of vaping is still in development. However, it is clear that vaping is far less harmful to the respiratory system than smoking. There is very little evidence on vaping and COVID-19 and it is unknown whether vaping makes you more susceptible to severe disease if you become infected. It is very important that you avoid returning to smoking.
Hemplifemag.com advises that vaping involves repetitive hand-to-face movements, which provide greater risk of a route of entry into the body for viruses. To reduce the risk of contact with COVID-19, you should:
- Wash your hands more frequently than usual, for 20 seconds, with soap and water. If soap and water is not easily accessible, hand sanitizer is a great alternative.
- Clean your e-cigarette regularly- Public Health England (PHE) strongly advises against sharing any vaping devices.
In 2018 Public Health England independent e-cigarette evidence review found that, there have been no identified health risks of passive vaping to bystanders. There is currently no evidence that COVID19 can be caught from passive exposure to e-cigarette vapour, but in the absence of evidence, we recommend that vapers avoid exhaling clouds of vapour in the presence of others.
