Akerna Flash Report: Black Friday cannabis retail spending increased 20%, while the overall retail industry decreased 28.3% in Black Friday traffic

DENVER, Dec. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Business intelligence from Akerna (Nasdaq: KERN), a leading enterprise software company and the developer of the most comprehensive technology infrastructure, ecosystem, and compliance engine powering the global cannabis industry, shows that Green Wednesday (11/24) and Black Friday (11/26) were the second and third highest sales days for legal cannabis in the US this year, with Green Wednesday bringing in $98.2 million in sales and Black Friday bringing in another $99 million. The largest day for cannabis sales this year was 4/20, the unofficial cannabis consumption holiday.

A report released by Sensormatic this week revealed that overall retail traffic on Black Friday dropped 28.3% compared to 2019 levels, while Akerna data shows a 20% increase in cannabis industry Black Friday purchasing over the same time period. 2020 was omitted from the comparison due to low in-store presence amid the first year of the Covid pandemic.

“Green Wednesday earned its nickname from historically high cannabis sales, and this year proved the same,” said James Ahrendt, Business Intelligence Architect at Akerna. “Cannabis shoppers headed to dispensaries in droves on both Black Friday and Green Wednesday, bucking national mainstream retail trends.”

The four-day period surrounding the Thanksgiving holiday (11/24-11/27) brought in a total of $254.7 million in cannabis sales. Akerna released a prediction report last week estimating the time period would garner $251 million in sales, which was 98.5% accurate compared to the actual total sales.

Other values for 11/24 – 11/27:

1. Category sales:
        a.       Flower – 47%
        b.      Cartridge/Pens – 33.5%
        c.       Concentrates – 11%
        d.      Infused Edibles – 7%
        e.      Other – 1.5%
2. Average order total:
        a.       Medical – $122.76
        b.      Recreational – $79.37
3. Average products per purchase:
        a.       Medical – 3.31
        b.      Recreational – 3.17
4. Sales by demographic:
        a.       61.8% male
        b.      38.2% female sales
5. Sales by age group:
        a.       Under 30 – 29%
        b.      30-40 –31%
        c.       40-50 – 20%
        d.      50-60 –12%
        e.      Over 60 – 8%

SOURCE Akerna