Cannalytics News

It’s no secret that 4/20 is one of the most important days in the cannabis industry. What began as a countercultural holiday has evolved into a day of international significance among cannabis activists, consumers, and insiders alike. Unsurprisingly, the increased legalization of marijuana has made 4/20 a lucrative holiday for cannabis businesses. But how exactly does 4/20 impact consumption?

Through the power of our business intelligence platform, Cannalytics, we uncovered some compelling information about consumer behavior around 4/20. Built on Forian’s cutting-edge Data Factory, Cannalytics links to our proprietary consumer dataset to enhance your business’ point-of-sale (POS) data, delivering advanced analytics and actionable insights to help grow your business—pun intended.

No surprise: sales increase during 4/20

We found that sales at dispensaries grow in the weeks prior to 4/20, an average of 10-15% up to a week before the holiday. On 4/20 itself, purchases skyrocket, and sale volumes double. With access to this information, your inventory manager can use the Cannalytics Inventory Dashboard to make sure you have the right amount of inventory on your shelves on the days leading up to 4/20.

Millenials love 4/20

And while we actually see significant increases in purchasing across all ages and generations for 4/20, it’s especially pronounced among Millennials, who purchase 2.3 times more than usual. Understanding your customers in this way gives you great opportunities to upsell certain products with discounts and deals.

Discounts are valuable (if done wisely)

We also found that many of these purchases are driven by coupons and promotional sales in celebration of the holiday. Our data shows that the discounts promoted around 4/20 are more valuable to customers than those released at other times of the year, offering an average of over 30% more in savings. This makes 4/20 a great time to push your slow-moving inventory via discounts. Use Cannalytics to identify what your ‘stale’ products are that haven’t been selling as quickly. Then, use our customer segmentation to target the consumers who are most likely to use discounts (your ‘Discount Divas’ segment).

People go for specialty items on the special day

Much of what people buy leading up to and on 4/20 is reflective of the holiday itself; sales significantly increase for products that are ritual-based, easy to share, and potent. This makes sense, given that gathering and getting high have always been mainstays of the holiday’s allure. Of course, we see sales more than double across almost every product category, but while loose and pre-packed flower still drive the most revenue, select niche items see even higher growth in popularity (3-4x usual sales volume) during the holiday. This may indicate customers are more interested in experimenting with different categories during this time, giving your budtenders an opportunity to sell niche products. The following products surge in popularity around 4/20:

Noting that less common products like Moonrocks have a surge in popularity is a good opportunity to make sure you have extra inventory in stock. It may be smart to offer discounts to customers who are likely to use more “niche” products.

Sativa strains to enjoy all day long

Provided the social nature of 4/20, it’s no surprise that sativa strains—generally energizing and uplifting—are purchased at higher rates surrounding the holiday. However, specific indicas and hybrids also have boosted sales. The following strains sell 50-100% more in volume than they do at other times of the year:

‍Video gamers and foodies unite

All of these stats only scratch the surface when it comes to Cannalytics’ capabilities. Our intuitive customer segmentation model goes far beyond general POS data, even including lifestyle insights through our deidentified linked consumer data.

To illustrate: we found that people who identify as “video gamers” and “food naturalists” spend 120% more around 4/20 than at other times of the year—a substantially higher rate than any other interest categories. Use insights like this to market creatively to your own customers!

4/20: An unofficial honeymoon?

By joining our proprietary consumer dataset to cannabis sales data (all de-identified) to get a more detailed understanding of customers, we also discovered that around 4/20, married couples purchase 18% more than their single counterparts do. Are married couples smarter spenders than singles, taking full advantage of the holiday discounts to stock up on products? Or do they use the day as an excuse to let loose? Valuable information like this allows your business to better understand consumers and, consequently, effectively cater to them.

Cannalytics can help you 365 days/year

Cannalytics is a powerful tool that will help your business prepare to tackle each and every day of the year—not just 4/20. Every member of your team will find utility in our dashboards, including your store and inventory managers, your marketing team, and your budtenders. Use Cannalytics to optimize inventory, save on marketing expenses, monitor performance across multiple dispensaries, segment and target your customers, and ultimately grow your revenue. Reach out to us today for a demo!