A 4/20 Boom? Not in the Beaver State

By Doug Brown | June 12, 2017 | For Cannabis Business Executive

Fresh data from Oregon shows that April, which has become a spectacle of cannabis promotions and parties due to 4/20, did not become a behemoth sales month in the Beaver State. Cannabis consumers dropped $34.6 million on cannabis in April in Oregon, representing 19.7 percent growth compared to the previous April (when recreational sales of many cannabis products were not yet legal). March, by comparison, saw $34.33 million in sales, which was a 20 percent increase over March of last year.

However, the holiday itself did experience a healthy wallop of business — more than double the sales of surrounding days. The holiday fell on a Thursday this year; sales on Thursdays other than 4/20 in April averaged $1.067 million. In contrast, sales on 4/20 were 161 percent larger coming in at $2.78 million.

Flower, which represented 55 percent of sales on 4/20, was the most popular item (as it is every month) and was just two percentage points higher, in terms of market share, than flower’s slice of the cannabis pie during all of April, at 53 percent.

Meanwhile, the average retail price for all products (including flower, concentrates and edibles) was 22 percent lower than the monthly average of $11.39. On 4/20, when dispensaries compete for attention through sales promotions, the average retail price per unit/gram was $9.34.

In years past, Colorado has been much more 4/20-crazy than Washington and Oregon. We look forward to studying 4/20 data from those states soon.