What 10,000 UK Vape Orders Told Us: The Numbers Behind Britain's Baskets

We hear a lot of opinions about how Brits buy their vapes. Very few people bother to check the actual numbers. So we did. With the help of anonymised, aggregated order data covering roughly 10,000 purchases from UK customers over a 12-month period, we've pulled together a picture of how Britain really stocks its vape drawer.

No names, no addresses, no personal details — just patterns. And some of them are genuinely unexpected.

Tuesday Is the New Delivery Day

You might assume most vape orders land on a Friday night, fuelled by panic as the bottle in your pocket runs dry. Not quite. Our data shows order volumes peak on Tuesday and Wednesday, with a smaller bump on Sunday evenings.

Why? Delivery expectations, most likely. Order midweek and your parcel typically arrives before the weekend; order Friday and you might be waiting until Monday. UK vapers, it turns out, have quietly learned to plan around the courier calendar. Sunday evening orders look like the classic 'preparing for the working week' shop — same energy as the online Tesco delivery slot.

Most People Start on 10mg — But Not Everyone

For ex-smokers switching to vaping, nicotine strength is the first big decision. Across the dataset, 10mg nic salts were the most common first-time purchase, accounting for roughly four in ten starter baskets. 20mg came next, favoured by heavier former smokers, while 3mg and 6mg freebase liquids barely featured in first orders — those strengths tend to arrive later, once people have settled into vaping and started tinkering.

There's also a clear pattern of strength stepping down over time. Customers who started at 20mg frequently re-ordered at 10mg within a few months. It's a quiet, self-directed taper that nobody really talks about, but the order history shows it happening again and again.

Flavour Maps: A Divided Kingdom

Here's where it gets fun. Strip out the national bestsellers — menthol and mixed fruit top the overall charts — and look regionally, and Britain splits into distinct flavour camps:

• Scotland and the North East: menthol and ice blends punch well above their weight. Make of that what you will regarding the weather.
• The North West and Midlands: dessert and custard territory. Bakery-style liquids are consistently in the top three.
• London and the South East: fruit and drink-inspired flavours dominate, with a noticeable appetite for anything involving lemonade or energy drink.
• The South West and Wales: a more even spread, but tobacco and classic blends hold on stronger here than anywhere else — possibly reflecting a slightly older customer base.

None of this is scientific surveying, but ten thousand baskets don't lie about broad trends. If you're a custard loyalist in Glasgow, you're genuinely in the minority.

Baskets Grow With Experience

First orders are cautious. The median first basket is small — one kit and one or two liquids, often hovering just above the free delivery threshold. Then something shifts.

By the third or fourth order, basket values typically climb. Experienced customers buy two or three liquids per order, add spare coils 'while I'm here', and are far more likely to grab a backup kit. It mirrors the pattern we've written about before: seasoned vapers know that running out of something midweek is misery, so they build a buffer.

The other tell? Repeat customers buy bigger bottles and shortfill deals rather than 10ml multipacks, chasing better value per millilitre once they know what they like.

What This Means for Your Next Order

A few practical takeaways from the data:

1. Order midweek if you want your kit before the weekend.
2. Don't over-commit on your first flavour — the most common second-order purchase is a different flavour from the first, suggesting plenty of us get the initial choice wrong.
3. Buy a spare coil with every liquid. The experienced buyers already do it, and coil drought is the number one cause of emergency reorders.
4. If you're stepping down your nicotine, you're in good company — it's one of the most common patterns in the entire dataset.

The Honest Caveat

This is one dataset from one shop's order history, and every vaper is different. Your habits might look nothing like the median. But if you've ever wondered whether you're the only one ordering dessert liquids at 9pm on a Sunday — you're not. You're part of a very large, very predictable club.

The real lesson from 10,000 orders? British vapers are creatures of habit who've learned to plan ahead, start sensible, and always, always keep a spare. Hard to argue with that.