As Predicted, 4/20 Sales Surged During Cannabis Industry Holiday Weekend

Ahead of this year’s 4/20 holiday, industry analysts predicted that it could be the biggest one yet, as April 20 happened to fall on a Saturday, which, on average, is the second-busiest sales day of the week.

Sales leading up to the holiday tend to surge, as well, and this year brought one surprise—Friday, 4/19, typically the top sales day of the week, was the bigger day for sales as customers prepared for the 4/20 holiday, according to Treez, which tracks licensed cannabis sales in Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey and Nevada.

The retailers Treez tracks saw a 120% boost, or 1.2-times increase in customers, products sold and gross sales compared to April 20, 2023. On 4/19, that figure was 200% compared to the previous year, as dispensaries saw two times the increase in customers, products and gross sales.

Compared to the beginning of the month, retail cannabis sales totaled $167 million on April 20, 2024, which is an increase of 133% over the daily sales average for April 1 through April 21, according to industry research and data company BDSA, which tracks sales in the Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon and Pennsylvania cannabis markets.

The average percent discount dispensaries offered grew this year when compared to 2023, according to BDSA, which saw equivalent average retail prices that were 16% lower on average on 4/20 compared to other days in April 2024. In 2023, that figure was 5.5%, and in 2022, 7.5%.

“Just because consumers may expect discounting, just because you see this discounting from your competitors, doesn't mean that you have to really race to the bottom or just cut prices overall to bring consumers in,” Brendan Mitchel-Chesebro, BDSA analyst, told Cannabis Business Times in April. “You can still see this big boost with lesser discounting or more strategic discounting.”

Treez also saw retailers providing deep discounts on 4/20, at an average of 37% compared to 32% in 2023.

As expected, sales of most categories were strong, but solventless extracts “saw an especially large increase,” according to BDSA, as sales of the products were 188% higher on 4/20 than the average for April 1 to April 21. And the equivalent average retail price of solventless extracts was 14% lower on 4/20 than the average of the first 21 days of the month.

For the first time since Treez has tracked product trends on 4/20, flower was not king. Flower and prerolls shared the spotlight, with each grabbing 25% of total sales and comprising 50% of all sales.

“The rise in preroll sales suggests that convenience is prioritized during 420 celebrations,” Treez noted.