Preparing for Another Successful Black Friday

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]I[/dropcap]t’s that time of year once again. Money moves faster on “Black Friday” than any other sales day of the year. In the world of cannabis, which is a fledgling industry that is still finding its bearings in some states, it is also an opportunity to sell. Nov. 23 is Black Friday (or “Green Friday” according to business owners who like money, or cannabis business owners who know people will visit their store in search of cannabis deals).

Overall, sources like Adobe Analytics estimate that U.S. citizens spent around $7.9 billion on Nov. 24, 2017. This reflects an 18 percent increase from the numbers in 2016. Equally astounding is the $6.6 billion that was sold via internet sales. In 2018, it is projected that shoppers will spend about 4.1 percent more than last year during this holiday overall (between Black Friday and Christmas).

2019 marks the fifth year that recreational cannabis has been legalized not just in Colorado (the first cannabis state) but the entire country. In 2014, there were many cannabis business owners who were taking advantage of season and the mainstream attention through deep discounts. But the industry has evolved since then. Four years later, there are more legal cannabis businesses than ever before, and the competition is fierce.

Out of all of the consumers in the U.S., an estimated 164 million plan to shop throughout the extended weekend. While a majority of these sales are targeted at items such as gift cards, clothing, books and consumer electronics, cannabis is going to get a piece of that pie too. Consumers can expect deep discounts at a variety of dispensaries to remain competitive, especially those dispensaries that are legally licensed to operate in their state. Those businesses will likely hire seasonal employees to keep up with the customer traffic and order more product than usual to meet demand.

Although online shopping sales are at an all-time high, that isn’t an option for many states and cities that don’t allow cannabis delivery. If you’re in the market for cannabis, visiting a brick-and-mortar store is the way to go. And if you aren’t humming Tchaikovsky’s infamous “Russian Dance” while zooming your cart through a story, then you’re doing it wrong.