.svg){kind=small}
A look at last year's 4/20
.png)
Curious how sales will perform this year on 4/20? Let’s take a look at last year’s performance to understand the potential impact of this year’s upcoming holiday. To evaluate last year’s performance, Headset analysts compared sales from the Wednesday of 4/20 to averages across the four prior Wednesdays.
4/20 in US cannabis markets
On April 20th, 2022, US cannabis stores experienced a significant boost in sales. In fact, the average cannabis store witnessed a 148% increase in sales, mainly driven by an increase in transaction count, rather than transaction size (i.e. basket size). Compared to the previous four Wednesdays, the typical cannabis store recorded 107% more transactions. Unsurprisingly, many cannabis stores offered discounts during the holiday, resulting in an average discount growth of 72%. Additionally, customers tended to buy more per transaction on 4/20, with the median store reporting a 19% increase in basket size.
4/20 in Canadian markets
In Canada, the average cannabis store saw sales grow by 65%, largely due to an increase in total transaction volume. The median store saw transaction volume increase by 57% compared to the four prior Wednesdays. Average discounting rose a whopping 92%, but the average basket size at the median store only increased by 3%.
Category Growth
On major holidays, Beverages tend to perform well relative to other categories; and 4/20 was no exception in both Canada and US markets. Sales for Beverages shot up by a whopping 110% and 176%, respectively. Pre-Rolls also performed well, demonstrating 74% growth in Canada and 150% growth in the US. In Canada, Edibles took the second spot in terms of growth with an impressive 83% increase. Meanwhile, in the US, Concentrates took the silver medal with a remarkable 155% growth.
Delivery vs. In-store Sales
Similar to in-store sales, delivery sales also grew on 4/20 of last year. Customers, however, were clearly excited to venture outside of their homes and celebrate the holiday with their communities, as in-store sales saw slightly higher growth than delivery sales in most US markets.
Among Michigan cannabis retailers that offer delivery, the median store enjoyed 177% growth in in-store sales but only 166% growth in delivery sales on 4/20 in comparison to the previous four Wednesdays. The median store’s proportion of total sales to delivery orders declined slightly on 4/20, dropping to 4.2% of sales on the holiday versus 4.4% of sales across the previous four Wednesdays.
In California the discrepancy was larger. Among cannabis retailers that offer delivery services, the median store saw 180% growth to in-store sales but only 122% growth to delivery sales. Additionally, the median store’s proportion of total sales coming from delivery orders on 4/20 dropped to 7.7% versus 10.4% over the previous four Wednesdays.
Looking ahead to 4/20/2023
As we approach this year’s highly anticipated holiday, it's essential for cannabis operators to look at previous year's sales trends to inform this year's holiday strategy. Based on last year’s data, we can expect a significant boost in sales, with both in-person and delivery sales increasing. Customers will likely take advantage of larger discounts and purchase more per transaction on 4/20, so it's essential that operators are prepared with adequate inventory. Specifically, operators should plan for significant increases in Beverages and Pre-rolls, last year's top-performing categories, and they may also want to consider stocking up on additional Edibles and Concentrates, which both displayed impressive growth.