Adult toys could lead the UK’s CBD brands into mainstream retail

Adult products could show the way for the development of the CBD market in the UK, according to the latest findings from CBD-Intel.

There remains significant room for CBD brand expansion in the severely fragmented UK market, and it is suppliers of adult products – which feature in nearly all online retail categories – who could show other brands the way.

A new report examining online retail reveals a fragmented market with few brands dominating the online space for the UK.

Interestingly, the one product carried by all but one online retail category tracked by CBD-Intel is adult CBD products. Other brands could get a lesson on achieving a wider array of distribution channels – in particular traditional retail channels where CBD continues to be underrepresented.

CBD-Intel head market analyst Nate Erskine said: “Large traditional retailers are positioned well to reach a large consumer base that might not trust unknown retailers with hundreds of unknown brands and products. After all, over half of all respondents in our recent UK consumer survey reported that they find it difficult to identify a trustworthy or reputable brand.”

Opportunity remains

Overall, 420 brands covering 13 main product categories give consumers access to a huge range of options, according to CBD-Intel research. But due to this large variety of brands, there are a lot of slices of the pie remaining.

Erskine explained: “Due to the fragmented nature of the online retail landscape, opportunity exists for all interested players to increase their offerings and gain market share.”

Overall, online retail is a good barometer for the UK market because CBD has achieved high levels of penetration into many of the mainstream consumer channels and this is reflected by their online product offerings.

However, CBD-Intel distribution analysis has revealed that most CBD brand listings are concentrated within specialist CBD and vape retailers.

This means there is still an opportunity for brands to expand into the more traditional retailers.
Erskine said: “New product formats that may trend with consumers could provide key differentiators for success within this market.”

Realistic, trustworthy analysis

CBD-Intel’s UK online market report is available free to subscribers and can also be bought as a standalone item. Readers can gain key insights on market format makeup and suggestions for differentiators from CBD-Intel’s best-in-sector cutting-edge market analysis.

CBD-Intel promises to deliver a realistic portrayal of the market instead of overblown hype based on exaggerated numbers. The realistic approach undertaken in our market reports is based on analysis of top UK retailers and encompasses the widest range of individual CBD SKUs found in CBD sector-specific reports.

CBD-Intel aims to identify the top ten (where available) ranking retailers in each category. The report covers retailer categories including:

• Beauty and cosmetics
• CBD specialists
• Health and wellness
• Online marketplaces
• Pet specialists
• Pharmacies
• Supermarkets
• Vape specialists.

ENDS