Philip Moore International continues to develop the way for the expansion of IQOS by opening its flagship store in Africa in an attempt to meet Africa’s needs for iQOS. According to MyBroadband, the first IQOS flagship store will be opened in Johannesburg, South Africa!
Marlboro plans to use the store as a springboard to expand in other parts of the continent, according to Alessandro Bogli, a spokesman for Marlboro. South Africa is the only African country to distribute IQOS internationally, but more countries will follow suit, he said.
“In many countries, we have developed a dedicated iqos outlet, a contact point where we can interact with consumers,” Bogli said in an interview in Johannesburg.
Philip Morris International has 70 IQOS stores in 23 countries, reflecting a broader trend for tobacco companies, including British American Tobacco and Japanese Tobacco, to invest in alternatives to smoking to promote new sources of income. Traditional cigarettes are under pressure from regulators around the world, and their popularity is declining as more and more people become aware of their inherent health risks.
Why is it in South Africa? According to a report by the Smoke-Free World Foundation, there are 7 million smokers in South Africa, accounting for about 8% of the total population.
According to the World Health Organization, 80% of the 1.1 billion smokers in the world live in low- and middle-income countries.
Bogli said South Africa’s footprint of IQOS will help it build international cases for regulators and consumers in other markets in the region. The company estimates that about 10,000 smokers will turn to vape every day.
