Cannabis consumer spending tightens, highlighting importance of brand strength

Rhea-AI Summary

Akerna (Nasdaq: KERN) reports that consumer spending on cannabis during Labor Day weekend remained roughly flat year-over-year, totaling $229.8 million. This marks a 2% decrease from last year's spending, attributed to fewer shoppers and smaller purchase sizes. Despite being resilient, the cannabis market is not entirely immune to economic shifts. Akerna emphasizes the need for cannabis brands to focus on differentiation and efficient production. Key categories such as flower and cartridges saw slight increases, while infused edibles and other categories declined.

Positive

• Key cannabis categories like flower and cartridges showed sales increases of 0.6% and 0.9% YOY, respectively.
• Akerna's MJ Analytics provides crucial data-driven insights, aiding operators in making informed business decisions.

Negative

• Overall consumer spending in cannabis decreased by 2% YOY during a significant holiday period.
• Fewer shoppers participated, leading to reduced basket sizes, indicating potential challenges for retailers.

Consumer spending on cannabis roughly flat YOY over Labor Day weekend, a historic Top 5 Cannabis Spending holiday

DENVER, Sept. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Akerna (Nasdaq: KERN), a leading enterprise software company and the developer of one of the most comprehensive technology infrastructures, ecosystems, and compliance engine powering the global cannabis industry, notes that consumer cannabis spending over Labor Day weekend was roughly flat over the same time period last year, with this year showing a total of $229.8M in sales.

Compared to last year’s Labor Day weekend spend, this year’s holiday weekend showed a 2% decrease in consumer spend, with both fewer shoppers making purchases and shoppers purchasing smaller basket sizes. As the macroeconomic climate continues to shift and consumers tighten their spending habits in other discretionary industries, it’s clear that although cannabis is recession-resilient, it is certainly not immune.

“Although nobody can say for sure what the future holds, it’s clear cannabis brands must focus on differentiating themselves and producing efficiently at scale,” says Jessica Billingsley, CEO of Akerna. “Having a firm understanding of consumer profiles and paying attention to price points will become increasingly important.”

"Cannabis brands and retailers looking to differentiate need to leverage their business intelligence tools to ensure they are making data-informed decisions," said James Ahrendt, Business Intelligence Architect at Akerna. "Producing efficiently at scale requires not only an exceptional business intelligence tool, such as MJ Analytics, but also a robust ERP system that can scale alongside your operation, such as 365 Cannabis. Tools such as these will give operators a leg up on the competition as the industry continues to mature and consumer discretionary spending habits follow macroeconomic drivers."

Labor Day 2022 Cannabis Spending Trends

• Category Sales:
  • Flower: 49.1% (+0.6 YOY)
  • Cartridge/Pens: 32.9% (+0.9% YOY)
  • Concentrates: 10% (no change YOY)
  • Infused Edibles: 6.8% (-1.2% YOY)
  • Other: 1.2% (-0.3% YOY)

About the Akerna Flash Report:

Flash Report looks at buying trends in the cannabis market as captured by Akerna's flagship solution, MJ Platform. MJ Platform includes MJ Analytics, allowing operators, investors, and regulators to access the industry's largest and most statistically relevant database to drive data-driven business decisions. 

MJ Analytics provides: 

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

MJ Analytics 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 and MJ Analytics.  

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, Trellis, Viridian Sciences, and 365 Cannabis. Sales projections are based on market adjustment calculations and aggregate the entire US market. 

Akerna has one of the largest seed-to-sale footprints in the cannabis industry, operating in 15 countries and 23 US states, including Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Arizona, California, Utah, Michigan, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, Maine, Vermont, New Mexico, Missouri, Texas, Ohio, Maryland, Washington DC, 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. 

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 $30 billion in cannabis sales to date and is the first cannabis software company listed on Nasdaq. Using connected data and information to propel the cannabis industry forward, Akerna empowers businesses, governments, patients, and consumers to make smart decisions. 

The Company's cornerstone technology, MJ Platform, one of the world's leading cannabis infrastructure as a service platform, powers retailers, manufacturers, brands, distributors, and cultivators. Akerna also offers a complete suite of professional consulting services and data analytics for businesses as well as solo sciences, Leaf Data Systems, Trellis, Ample Organics, Viridian Sciences and 365 Cannabis.

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

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.

Name: Meghan Shine
Email: pr@akerna.com
Phone: 303.917.6179

FAQ

What was the total cannabis spending during Labor Day 2022?

Cannabis spending during Labor Day 2022 totaled $229.8 million.

How did cannabis spending compare year-over-year for Labor Day weekend?

There was a 2% decrease in cannabis spending compared to Labor Day 2021.

What factors contributed to flat consumer spending in cannabis during Labor Day 2022?

The flat spending was due to fewer shoppers making purchases and smaller basket sizes.

What trends were observed in cannabis product categories during Labor Day 2022?

Flower and cartridge sales increased, while infused edibles and other categories experienced declines.

What insights does Akerna provide for cannabis operators?

Akerna's MJ Analytics offers data-driven insights to help cannabis operators make informed business decisions.