REPEAT --TAAT E-Commerce Launching Wednesday February 17, Availing Original, Smooth, and Menthol to Majority of Smokers Aged 21+ Across the U.S. - Seite 2

The TAAT e-commerce portal can be accessed by visiting the following link and selecting the “Shop” menu item (21+ only): http://trytaat.com

Through a combination of online, in-store, and digital out-of-home campaigns targeted towards smokers aged 21+, the Company has cultivated considerable interest in TAAT across the United States. The Company has strategically timed the launch of the TAAT e-commerce portal based on predicted demand for the product outside of Ohio, as well as robust inventory levels of TAAT and its Beyond Tobacco base material as the Company continues to increase its production capacity. The Company believes that by launching the TAAT e-commerce portal on Wednesday, it could capitalize on recent shifts in consumer behaviour caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which have led to more routine purchases being made online as opposed to in-store. Based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, e-commerce retail sales in the United States amounted to USD $209.5 billion in Q3 2020, representing 14.3% of total retail sales of USD $1.469 trillion for the quarter, compared to a proportion of 11.2% (USD $153.2 billion) in Q3 2019². Moreover, data from IBM’s U.S. Retail Index suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift away from physical stores to digital shopping by roughly five years³.

The Company has undertaken extensive development work on the TAAT online store, which began in Q4 2020. Key considerations in planning the online store included layout optimization for desktop, tablet, and mobile web browsers, as well as the implementation of mechanisms to confirm that visitors are at least 21 years of age.

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The TAAT online store will be launching on Wednesday February 17, 2021 at http://trytaat.com, where smokers aged 21+ in eligible¹ jurisdictions will be able to purchase cartons of TAAT Original, Smooth, and Menthol

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The Company’s estimations have concluded that based on the smoking incidence rates in each of the jurisdictions in which TAAT can be purchased online, the TAAT online store stands to avail the product to the majority of smokers aged 21+ in the United States, including Ohio where TAAT is currently sold at retail. Insights gathered from online sales of TAAT through the Company’s e-commerce portal could prove useful in shaping near-term launch initiatives in new markets. With retail distribution rollouts of TAAT in other U.S. states planned to occur over the course of 2021, the Company believes that opportunities exist for making cross-channel observations between online and in-store sales with regard to purchasing tendencies of smokers aged 21+ through a given channel. By enabling TAAT to enter new markets in the United States near-instantly through e-commerce, the Company believes it could penetrate the tobacco category in the United States even more rapidly.