The Friday before Labor Day was the third biggest day for cannabis sales in 2021

Cannabis users flocked to pharmacies on September 3, the Friday before Labor Day weekend, leading to the third largest cannabis sales day in 2021. Unfortunately, that was the only good news for the cannabis retail industry.

Overall, sales in 2021 decreased compared to 2020 for the last summer weekend. Analytics firms Headset and Flowhub both reported that sales fell in the regions they cover. While wholesaler LeafLink saw an early spike in orders for the holiday, orders seemed to be subsiding as the weekend approached.

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Headset

According to cannabis data and analytics company Headset, Labor Day weekend (September 3-6) saw a slight decrease (-3.2%) in average daily sales compared to the previous four weekends.

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On the positive side, however, we will see a different story on Friday, March 9th, 21 alone. Sales on September 3, 2021 were up 10.3% from the previous four Fridays, making that day the third-largest day of total U.S. cannabis sales that year. All data for the USA comes from the following markets: CA, CO, MI, NV, OR, PA, WA.

Drinks for profit

Headset said the only categories that saw sales growth over the past four weekends were beverages (+ 8.4%) and foods (+ 4.2%) for the entire holiday weekend. “If we instead look at Friday, September 3rd, all categories saw positive growth with Edibles (+ 15.1%), Capsules (+ 13.3%), and Vapor Pens (+ 11.2%). The category with the lowest increase in sales was concentrate with a growth of + 2.8% compared to the last four Fridays. “

Coupon Clippers

The pharmacies must suspect that sales could decline because the discounts were increased slightly over the entire holiday weekend. Headset said the average discount over Labor Day weekend 2021 was 13.7%, down from 12.3% over the past four weekends – a relative increase of 11.8%. While Friday, September 3, was the busiest day of the weekend, Labor Day itself (Monday 9.6.) Had the highest average discounts of 15.1%, an increase of 27% compared to the previous four Mondays.

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SheetLink

On the wholesale side of the business, it appears that pharmacies were planning a busy vacation in advance. LeafLink said sales rose 4.33% in the month leading up to the Labor Day holiday in 2021, up from a 2.39% increase over the same period in 2020. Leaflink also said the largest percentage increase in GMV (gross value of goods ) in the week of 8/15, 4.5% more than before. Sales then stagnated for the remainder of the weeks leading up to Labor Day.

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Leaflink outlined category demand for the holiday as follows:

• Flowers remained the most popular category in the month leading up to Labor Day, spurring 36.33% GMV compared to 35% GMV in the month leading up to Labor Day 2020 and 35.37% the previous month.
• The second most popular product category leading up to Labor Day 2021 was cartridges, which accounted for 22.29% of GMV (about 1% more than the previous month). This is a slight decrease from 2020, when cartridges accounted for 24% of GMV in the month leading up to Labor Day.
• Flower recorded in the week of 8/15. significant growth, with GMV increasing 23% from the previous week and growing a further 9.9% the following week. That could mean an increase in pharmacies stocking up on flowers before Labor Day 2021.
• Packaged flowers were the most popular subcategory, accounting for 17.47% of total GMV in the month leading up to Labor Day, with Bulk Flower ranking second at 16.29%.

The most popular products in the month leading up to Labor Day in 2021 were:

• Slurricane-Wrapped Flower – MUV (FL)
• Gelato Cake Packaged Flower – District Cannabis (MD)
• Wedding Cake Wrapped Flower – Pacific Stone (CA)
• Blueberry Indica Gummies – MUV (FL)
• Moon Rocks Concentrates – UBaked (MI)

The most popular cartridges in the month leading up to Labor Day 2021 were:

• Cookies – Platinum Vape (MI)
• Sour Jack – MUV (FL)
• Double Bear Honey Cart – Terrapin (PA)
• Pink Lemonade – MUV (FL)
• Pie Driver – Platinum Vape (MI)

Photo by rez-art / Getty Images

Flowhub

Flowhub offers point of sale, inventory, and other pharmacy analytics. The company found that Labor Day, on average, outperforms the typical Monday by 17-27%. Unfortunately, Flowhub’s data matched Headset, as this year’s Labor Day 2021 coincided with a typical Monday (a little less, actually). Flowhub said there appeared to be no holiday increases in sales or transactions for Labor Day Monday, and sales fell 9% from the 2020 holiday.

Perhaps the 2020 pandemic lockdowns made consumers buy more last year? Labor Day sales on Monday 2020 were up around 10% from 2019. Just a year later, as more people were able to get out and return to a less restrictive lifestyle, Labor Day weekend sales fell 35% compared to 2020. On average, Labor Day weekend better performance outperforms typical (mid-range) weekend by 15-21%. Flowhub said Labor Day weekend sales in 2021 were 27% lower than sales on a typical summer weekend.

This article originally appeared in the Green Market Report and was republished with permission.