Akerna Flash Report: Cannabis sales predicted to reach $370,000,000 as consumers prepare for 4/20

Legal cannabis sales are predicted to increase starting Friday, April 16th, with $95,000,000 predicted for the new largest sales day this year, Tuesday, April 20th.

Business intelligence from Akerna (Nasdaq: KERN), an enterprise software, leading compliance technology provider, and developer of the cannabis industry’s first seed-to-sale enterprise resource planning (ERP) software technology (MJ Platform®), predicts that Tuesday, April 20th, a widely-popular yet unofficial “holiday” celebrating cannabis consumption, will gross $95,000,000 in legal cannabis retail sales nationally, with the following predictions for the day:

Top product: Flower will be the most purchased product on 4/20, claiming 49% of all legal sales, up 4% from the 2021 daily average.
Order total: The average order total will be up about $10, with the average spend per customer coming in at $105.00, compared to the 2021 average of $93.48.
Basket size: Customers will buy an average of 3.69 products, up 30% from the 2021 average basket size, 2.83 products.

“Elevated sales mean traffic will be at a high, making it critical for retailers to prepare their inventory, staff, and space for these upticks,” said James Ahrendt, Business Intelligence Architect at Akerna. “To help with preparations, we have created a guide for dispensaries on 4/20, complete with recommendations on how to create the most seamless and enjoyable customer experience.”

With 4/20 landing on a Tuesday this year, Akerna predictive data is showing that consumers planning to celebrate will shop ahead of the date, with the weekend ahead of 4/20 being the most significant weekend sales of the year and the 5-day period (4/16-4/20) sales totals exceeding $370,000,000 nationally, with the following predicted breakdown per day:

Friday, 4/16: There will be a 50% growth in daily average sales, the second largest sales day for the period with a predicted total industry sales figure of $85,000,000. Fridays are typically the highest traffic days for cannabis retailers.
Saturday, 4/17: This will be another busy sales day in preparation for the holiday, with predicted sales reaching $78,000,000.
Sunday, 4/18: Anticipated to be the slowest day, but still elevated for Sundays, with a predicted spend of $50,000,000. Historically, Sundays are the lowest cannabis sales days.
Monday, 4/19: Sales will pick back up from the slower Sunday, totaling $65,000,000.

Other predictions for the “holiday” period (4/16 – 4/20):

Category sales:
- Flower – 49%
- Cartridge/Pens – 31%
- Concentrates – 11%
- Infused Edibles – 8%
- Other – 1%
Sales percentage by Demographics:
- Gender
  - 62% male
  - 38% female sales
- Age
  - Under 30 – 29%
  - 30-40 –31%
  - 40-50 – 20%
  - 50-60 –12%
  - Over 60 – 8%

About MJ Freeway

MJ Freeway is more than software as a service. Its flagship solution, MJ Platform, includes Platform Insights. Now operators, investors, and regulators can access the industry’s largest and most statistically relevant database to drive data-driven business decisions.

Platform Insights provides:

The greatest statistical relevance across countries
Normalized data (not farmed from various disparate POS platforms)
Full cannabis supply chain data
Business insights founded in category management methodology

Platform Insights can eliminate the guesswork and provide answers to questions like:

What is the gross margin return on inventory?
What SKUs should be carried?
How do basket adjacencies influence discounting and retention strategies?
What does a medical market look like a year or five years after decriminalizing cannabis?

Click here for more information about MJ Platform.

About Akerna:

Akerna (Nasdaq: KERN) is an enterprise software company focused on compliantly serving the cannabis, hemp, and CBD industry. First launched in 2010, Akerna has tracked more than $20 billion in cannabis sales to date and is the first cannabis software company listed on Nasdaq. The company’s cornerstone technology, MJ Platform, the world’s leading infrastructure as a service platform, powers retailers, manufacturers, brands, distributors, and cultivators.

For more information, visit http://www.akerna.com/.

About the Akerna Flash Report:

Flash Report is a look at buying trends in the cannabis market as captured by Akerna’s MJ Freeway subsidiary.

MJ Freeway provides operators with MJ Platform, the industry-leading solution for regulatory compliance technology, from seed-to-sale-to-self. Some instances of the flash report may include business intelligence derived from Akerna’s family of companies, including Ample Organics, Leaf Data Systems, solo sciences, and Trellis.

Data is derived from MJ Platform, the leading provider of cannabis compliance software for the marijuana industry. Sales projections are based on market adjustment calculations and represent the entire US market as an aggregate.

Reporting Data is obtained from operators using Akerna’s MJ Platform solutions. Akerna has one of the largest seed-to-sale footprints in the cannabis industry, operating in 15 countries and 23 U.S. states, including Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Arizona, California, Utah, Michigan, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, Maine, Vermont, New Mexico, Missouri, Texas, Ohio, Maryland, Washington D.C., Kansas, Arkansas, New York.

Increases are relative to the prior period. Additional business intelligence data sources may include proprietary tools used by Akerna’s family of companies.

Forward-Looking Statements:

Certain statements made in this release are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words “estimates,” “projected,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “forecasts,” “plans,” “intends,” “believes,” “seeks,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “future,” “propose” and variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative versions of such terms or expressions) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include but are not limited to statements regarding the ability of the MJ Platform team to help operators make decisions through analytics and reporting. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results, and involve a number of significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other important factors, many of which are outside Akerna’s control, that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Important factors, among others that may affect actual results or outcomes, include (i) Akerna’s ability to maintain relationships with customers and suppliers and retain its management and key employees, (ii) changes in applicable laws or regulations, (iii) changes in the market place due to the coronavirus pandemic or other market factors, (iv) and other risks and uncertainties disclosed from time to time in Akerna’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including those under “Risk Factors” therein. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. All information herein speaks only as of the date hereof, in the case of information about Akerna, or the date of such information, in the case of information from persons other than Akerna. Akerna undertakes no duty to update or revise the information contained herein. Forecasts and estimates regarding Akerna’s industry and end markets are based on sources believed to be reliable; however, there can be no assurance these forecasts and estimates will prove accurate in whole or in part.