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The UK e-cigarette market has grown from virtually nothing in 2011 to almost £120m as of April this year €“ but even that figure is most likely an underestimate, according to Martin Wood, head of strategic insight at market researcher IRI, speaking at OTC Bulletin's e-cigarette conference.

The rise in internet sales and a myriad of direct-to-consumer channels €“ including e-cigarette shops and market stalls €“ made the size of the sector outside of mainstream mass market channels difficult to measure.

€Who knows what the true size of the market is?€ Mr Wood asked. €But clearly these products are becoming more mainstream and as the second generation of products start coming into mass market distribution, then there is an opportunity for mainstream retailers to add value in terms of new formulations, flavours and devices.€

Pharmacy has so far taken only a 6 per cent share €“ £6.9m €“ of value sales. While the e-cigarette market is likely to reach £140m by 2015, this continued growth was unlikely to come at the expense of existing OTC NRT products, Mr Wood said.

€¢ Reporting by OTC Bulletin