Move over, mistletoe- there’s a new favorite plant in town. The holidays are here earlier every year- you can tell when you see the Halloween décor being swapped for twinkly lights and pine and fir trees before spooky season is even over. While the cannabis world may not be big on seasonal products, that doesn’t exclude it from the world of seasonal sales. A recent flash report from Akerna showed that Halloween weekend cannabis sales was just under $250MM in 2022- some seriously significant shopping statistics. This data also indicates that the 2022 holiday shopping season will be much stronger than 2021, making this an exciting time to be selling everyone’s favorite stocking stuffer- cannabis. To best take advantage of the seasonal shoppers and have your dispensary dominate the market share, we have compiled some discounting opportunities to extend the holiday season and spread some holiday cheer.
Holiday Gifts
One of the most beloved aspects of the holidays is gift giving- and that now includes retailers as the gift givers. Developing programs for gifts with purchase is an incredible way to leverage existing partners, vertically integrated brands, and even shopping center neighbors now and into the upcoming new year. Partnering with your purchaser to meet with third party brands to explore gifting opportunities for swag items or even medicated items priced down to a penny relay into great savings for shoppers. Be sure to verify what kind of promotions can be given out within compliance in your area- most areas require medicated cannabis products to be sold for at least one cent to consumers. If medicated products are tight this year, explore opportunities like swag items. Lower cost stocking stuffers like pre-rolls may come with branded lighters or higher cost gifts like packaged half ounces may come with small bongs or pipes. These kinds of packaged deals create gorgeous gift sets that are ready to go for everyone on the shopper’s list. To expand the reach of the shopping experience outside of the dispensary (particularly if you’re seeing average sales beginning to max out daily purchase limits), explore opportunities with your neighbors. If you have a restaurant or retailer nearby, connect with their operator to see if they’d be open to a partnership deal. Something as simple as showing a receipt from the same day from your shop at their shop and getting 10% off (and vice versa!) builds great business synergy and helps drive consumers back and forth within your region. This will often be more successful with independent operators as some larger corporate groups may not be comfortable partnering with cannabis.
Stocking Stuffer Steals
Regulated cannabis can be pricey in any market. While you may daydream of Santa leaving a beautiful ounce of Mandarin Cookies in exchange for his store-bought sugar cookies, many cannabis gifts may be on the smaller side with grab and go products such as pre-rolls or edibles. Because of this, during the holiday season operators may want to explore volume discounts with their third-party partners or discounted deals to pass savings on to shoppers. Since the holiday shopping season is short, partners may also offer deals on volume purchases of products that may have been sitting a little longer in their inventory. Knowing that the product will get passed along and enjoyed quickly keeps it from expiring and is a much better alternative to product loss. Leveraging more ‘cheap and cheerful’ items are great upsell opportunities for sales staff and satisfy the stocking stuffer shoppers that walk through your doors.
Loyalty Rewards
One of our favorite parts of MJ Platform is the integrated loyalty program automation and it so happens to also be one of our favorite ways to reward holiday shoppers during the season. Doing timed adjustments such as double point days during slower days of the week can help spread out the shopping season so Saturdays aren’t a madhouse every weekend. This also drives the returning customer to come back and take advantage of being rewarded for shopping as they normally would. Quick back-end adjustments to loyalty point distribution paired with an email newsletter blast, a well-crafted text message, or even a social media campaign can drive shoppers to show up during otherwise slow hours. Once you’ve got them in store and they know that the more they spend the more they are rewarded, a consumer may be more open to indulging in upsell items.
Happy Hours
Mornings can feel slower in the winter, but they don’t have to. Utilizing your sales reporting from MJ Platform, identify the slower hours week over week and even year over year to identify areas of opportunity. From there, if you see 8AM – 10AM is traditionally the slowest time for your store, take that slump and turn it into happy hour. Adjust to offering certain sales only during happy hour (just like in your favorite eatery or watering hole!), drives more price-savvy shoppers who may have more people to tick off their list than Saint Nick himself. This can also be an opportunity to specially price items that are expiring soon and need to be highlighted to move quickly or ‘last chance’ last of batch items in low quantities. Additionally, coupons or discounts on items that have to move fast that are only available during happy hour create some exclusivity around the deals to surprise and delight shoppers. On the inverse, to combat low cart averages, happy hour may also include adjusted flower tier pricing. Adjusting a full ounce price to be slightly lower during happy hour may drive the bulk buys and help clear shelves so more products can be accepted. Locals with affinity for your dispensary will thank you for making their ounce trips that much more gratifying and pledge allegiance to the store that gives back the most.
While some of these strategies are of course built around the seasonal shopping season, the same priciples may be applied outside of the season and for quarters to come. Traditionally, across retail, many stores see a drop-off in shoppers following the holidays and into Q1. Of course, there are few things traditional about the world of cannabis sales, but they are not immune to this natural occurrence. Employing some of these strategies through the holiday season and beyond can start the new year strong and keep your market share stronger.
