Comparing Green Wednesday and Black Friday sales

Green Wednesday sales top the charts, but Black Friday shoppers saved more. If Green Wednesday numbers are any indication, cannabis lovers had a large time this past Thanksgiving weekend. Green Wednesday 2019 -- which is the day before Thanksgiving -- had 40% greater total sales than the average sales on the four previous Wednesdays.
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The average discount on that day increased from 11.2% to 12.8%. That’s a 14.2% increase in the average rate of discount, which is fairly modest given the holiday hype. The modest increase in discounting coupled with the large increase in sales volume suggests consumers were there to stock up for the long weekend, but were less price sensitive.

The money savings went to traditional Black Friday shoppers. Black Friday 2019’s total sales were actually 6% lower than the average of the four previous Fridays -- which is in line with the usual seasonal downturn of the market -- but the average discount increased from 11.0% in the comparison period to 19.1%. That’s a 74% increase in discounting! Total unit sales on Black Friday were actually up by 0.3% versus the same comparison, indicating that volume was up but prices were down.

Thanksgiving holiday hits

Edibles and beverages were winning categories on both days. On Black Friday, topicals were also one of the few categories with positive growth versus the comparison period. This means shoppers were taking advantage of the deals to purchase these lower frequency or “gifty” products.
On Green Wednesday, beverages (+93%), edibles (+82%), and vapor pens (+42%) saw the biggest increases in sales in comparison to the previous four Wednesdays. All categories saw an increase in sales versus the comparison period.
On Black Friday, topicals (+23%), beverages (+12%), and edibles (+4%) were the only categories to have positive growth versus the comparison period. (It’s important to remember that the total market saw -6% growth).

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Green Wednesday Category Sales Lift (CA, CO, NV, WA

Black Friday had a bigger relative increase in items per basket, but a smaller relative increase in average basket than Green Wednesday. This is due to bigger discounts and lower average item price on Black Friday in comparison to Green Wednesday.

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Basket Analysis

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All analysis is for CA, CO, NV, and WA recreational cannabis sales combined. All analysis compares the date in question (either 2019-11-27 aka Green Wednesday or 2019-11-29 aka Black Friday) to an average of sales on the four previous same days of the week. Green Wednesday is compared to the average sales on 10/30, 11/6, 11/13, and 11/20. Black Friday is compared to the average sales on 11/1, 11/8, 11/15, and 11/22.Green Wednesday sales top the charts, but Black Friday shoppers saved more. If Green Wednesday numbers are any indication, cannabis lovers had a large time this past Thanksgiving weekend. Green Wednesday 2019 -- which is the day before Thanksgiving -- had 40% greater total sales than the average sales on the four previous Wednesdays. Thanksgiving Week Total Sales and Average Discount by Day (CA, CO, NV, WA)