If you run a convenience store, you’ve already felt this: cigarette sales keep slipping, and the little cans of pouches keep flying off the shelf. The numbers back up what you’re seeing at the register. Cigarettes dropped from about 31% of in-store sales in 2015 down to under 19% in 2024, while other tobacco products (OTP) climbed from 4% to nearly 8% NACS – “Looking Back on a Decade of Tobacco and Nicotine Data“.
Here’s the part that matters for your wallet: OTP makes you more money per dollar. The average margin on OTP hit 29.5% in 2024, versus just 13.8% on cigarettes. So even though you still sell more cigarettes, the gap in actual profit has gotten small — and OTP keeps closing it.
The big winner is nicotine pouches. As one NACS researcher put it, “Nicotine pouches are transforming the backbar,” with that segment jumping 45% in a single year – NACS Magazine, “Nicotine Pouches Pull Ahead”. Stores that leaned in are winning. One chain who’s a client of ours made itself a “nicotine pouch destination” and Zyn became the No. 2 brand on their whole backbar, offsetting the drop in cigarettes.
So what should you do about it? In a 2025 Convenience Store News piece, the editor told retailers to stop treating the backbar as an afterthought and rethink it. Half of store operators say they’re adding more OTP products this year, and 47% are giving OTP more shelf space – Tobacco Reporter “Survey: Convenience Stores Expanding OTP Displays“.
The problem is, your old cigarette rack wasn’t built for dozens of tiny, fast-moving pouch cans and vapes. You need a display that’s brighter, more flexible, and easier to restock.
That’s where a system like Palram 4U’s tobacco displays earns its keep. A few practical reasons it makes sense for a store owner:
* It pays for itself fast – you can recover the cost in 7–9 months from the extra sales, then it’s profit from there.
* No headache to set up – it’s plug-and-play — “unpack, plug and start selling.” No installer, no half-day of assembly.
* The lights sell for you – every shelf is individually lit, so premium and new products grab attention and customers find what they want faster — even during a rush.
* One rack fits everything – adjustable shelf heights and pushers handle cigarette packs, pouches, vapes, and dip, so you’re not buying new fixtures every time the mix changes.
* Restocking is quick – pull-out shelves make refilling and counting inventory simple, which saves your staff time.
Bottom line: the money in tobacco is moving toward higher-margin products like pouches, and the stores cashing in are the ones giving those products a clean, bright, well-organized home behind the counter. Spotlight your high-margin items, keep the backbar flexible, and let the display do some of the selling for you.
Sources:
– NACS, “Looking Back on a Decade of Tobacco and Nicotine Data” — https://www.convenience.org/stay-current/news/2026/march/9/3-decade-tobacco-nicotine-data_research
– NACS Magazine, “Nicotine Pouches Pull Ahead” (January 2026) — https://www.nacsmagazine.com/Issues/January-2026/Nicotine-Pouches-Pull-Ahead
– Tobacco Reporter, “Survey: Convenience Stores Expanding OTP Displays” (March 2025, citing *Convenience Store News*) — https://tobaccoreporter.com/2025/03/03/survey-convenience-stores-expanding-otp-displays/
– Palram 4U Tobacco Solutions — https://tobacco-solutions.palram4u.com/
