Scottish Vape Elfbar Lost Mary SKE GoldBar Significant Decline

The latest data released by Talysis reveals the “brand reshuffle” phenomenon in Scotland after the ban on disposable vape. The sales of top brands such as Elf Bar, Lost Mary, and SKE have significantly declined, while emerging brands such as Pixl and Higo have risen strongly, and compliant alternative products such as blu and Hyola have also shown activity.

The latest report from retail data consulting firm Talysis analyzes the retail market for vapes in Scotland. According to reports, in the first month after the implementation of the ban on disposable vapes in Scotland, the market showed a clear trend of “brand reshuffle”. This article summarizes the changes in the brand landscape of the Scottish vape market and brand response strategies.
According to Talysis data, the top ten vape brands account for 93% of the market’s value sales, but traditional strong brands are collectively under pressure: Elfbar plummeted 57.5%, Lost Mary fell 44.7%, SKE fell 34.4%, and Gold Bar plummeted 93.5%. At the same time, emerging brands such as Pixl and Higo have risen strongly, while compliant alternative products such as Hyola and blu have performed outstandingly.

Elfbar and Lost Mary recently launched a reusable version of their most popular disposable devices. The Elfbar 600 pre installed pod set replaces the Elfbar 600, while the Lost Mary BM600 pre installed pod set inherits the BM600. Both products can be charged and use pre installed pods.
The company claims that the reusable Lost Mary BM6000 has quickly become a best-selling product in the high puff category and has been upgraded to meet new regulatory requirements. Angelo Yang, Deputy General Manager of Elfbar UK, said, “Sales data shows that demand for high puff devices continues to grow, and the upgraded version ensures that retailers can continue to receive one of the strongest performing products in this category
Although some large vape brands have been impacted by the ban on disposable vapes, there are also some new brands that have rapidly emerged. Pixl was launched in June 2024 and achieved astonishing sales growth, becoming the third best-selling vape brand with a market share of 13.5%; Higo surged 238% with a market share of 7.1%, ranking fifth.
SKE is our best-selling product, followed by IVG, and then Pixl, ranking third. Before and after the ban was issued, we arranged Pixl’s sales representatives to conduct promotional activities in the store, promoting products that comply with regulations. Higo’s growth is astonishing, with rapid sales growth. In the past two weeks, Higo’s product unit (SKU) has sold more than all other brands. The brands that launch new devices the fastest often perform the best. For us, Lost Mary may be at the bottom. Our promotion efforts for Lost Mary and Elf Bar are not significant; Our promotion mainly focuses on other brands. ”Guna Sud, the owner of Racetrack convenience store chain, said. She has been working closely with multiple suppliers to carry out promotional activities in store, where sales representatives can educate consumers about alternatives to disposable vapes.

Hyola is such a brand. She said, ‘Last week, we had Hyola products in our store and they were sold at half price.’. If they sell sets at half price, we will see a significant increase in sales of matching sets in the coming weeks, which is why they continue to sell. ”
Talysis pointed out that since the implementation of the ban, Hyola has jumped from 10th place to 7th place on the top ten brand list, with a value share of 2.5%.
As of May 2025, Gold Bar’s market share was 5.8%, but in the first month of the ban, its market share had declined to only 1.5%. Guna said, “Gold Bar has really lost its market here. They still have 600 pack vapes, but sales were already declining before the ban was implemented, and they have never released any other (compliant) versions. ”
As of June 28th, in the past four weeks, Blu has climbed to tenth place with a market share of 1.2%.
Blu company Malm said, ‘Before the ban was issued, many retailers had already decided to prioritize the supply of compliant alternatives, such as our blu bar kit.’. The blu bar set has a suction capacity of up to 1000 puffs per cartridge, providing consumers with a rechargeable and reusable vape device that offers the same taste experience and convenience as existing disposable vape consumers. ”

Imperial Brands stated that the success of the blu bar kit has also driven the launch of another product, the blu box kit, which caters to the needs of a quarter of disposable vape customers who prefer boxed vape devices.
Although many of his customers have transitioned from disposable vapes, activation services have now become a core component of Racetrack’s vape alternatives.
Guna said, “I don’t think we’ve lost any vape customers. Our customer base may have grown just because we’re promoting, arranging sales representatives to communicate with customers, and giving out gifts. Now people come here looking forward to seeing strong promotional activities. But that’s great because it attracts them to come to the store every week. They will try new products, but it means we have to work harder with brands to ensure we can also provide high-quality promotional activities. We need to keep the promotion lineup running well, otherwise they may not come back
Overall, Guna is pleased with the ban taking effect and consumers adapting to the new normal.
Putting aside the surge in sales caused by panic buying in May, our sales have increased by 5% compared to April. Now that the ban has come into effect, we are much happier. We have more devices that comply with regulations, and other brands have followed suit, so we feel much better now. We are starting to select and analyze sales again to see which products are underperforming and which ones can be replaced with other products. Everything is back on track
Looking at the SKU level, after the implementation of the ban on disposable vapes, over a quarter of the sales value of the Scottish vape market comes from the top 20 products. Among them, four of the top five products are from SKE. Talysis observed that lemon lime flavor is the most popular flavor, followed by cherry flavor. And among disposable vape products as of May 2025, these two flavors are also the most popular.