The role of third-party e-commerce technology in illegal online e-cigarette sales

The online tobacco market currently accounts for 15% of tobacco products with most online e-cigarette stores depending on Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions like Shopify for site functionality. While the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act restricts online sales by requiring age verification upon delivery and prohibiting shipping with select couriers, concerns remain about youth access to e-cigarettes. This study examines online e-cigarette stores' apparent compliance with regulations designed to prevent youth sales in the US and the SaaS used by online e-cigarette stores. Search engines and lists were used to identify eligible online e-cigarette stores (N = 58). Two trained coders coded stores for three PACT Act violations: (a) failure to verify buyer age; (b) failure to require a signature upon delivery; and (c) shipping via a restricted carrier. Separately, using a semi-automated browser in Python, we visited each store and tracked all web requests made to SaaS while visiting the site (N = 48). Lastly, SaaS used by four or more stores (N = 18) had terms of use coded for relevant legal language. Of the 58 stores coded in the study, 51 (88%) violated at least one of the three regulations tested. The most common violation was using a restricted shipping company (N = 45, 78%). All 18 SaaS used by four or more stores had at least 60% of their client stores in the study appearing to violate a regulation. The most used SaaS provider was Shopify, used by 29 (50%) of stores, of which 26 (90%) had at least one violation. A review of policies of the SaaS providers revealed 16 (89%) explicitly required clients to comply with local and federal regulations. The third-most-used SaaS explicitly stated that the service could not be used for tobacco. Despite SaaS policies requiring stores to comply with laws, most online e-cigarette stores failed to adhere to PACT Act restrictions aimed at preventing youth access to e-cigarettes. Stricter enforcement of the PACT Act and SaaS providers’ policies are needed to prevent youth from accessing e-cigarettes.