The numbers are in and it’s official—Green Wednesday 2021 was a big one for the cannabis industry, while Black Friday fizzled in comparison. Green Wednesday saw cannabis sales increase across the U.S. Black Friday did not have the sales growth seen in previous years, though some data (Flowhub) showed larger order values and bigger discounts than Green Wednesday. Data from market analytics and cannabis companies like Headset, LeafLink, Lantern, Glass House Brands, and others show common trends regarding most popular products and year-over-year sales numbers. Using this data, companies extrapolate some possible variables affecting this year’s numbers, including a decreased emphasis on Black Friday door-buster deals targeted towards packing stores with bargain-hungry shoppers, focusing instead on online sales spread out over the holiday season (Springbig).

Headset’s Green Wednesday 2021 data showed a 33% increase in total retail sales compared with the four previous Wednesdays, with a marked trend of customers taking advantage of promotions on offer to receive discounts on holiday shopping, with the average discount up 29 percent. This was in contrast to a slight decrease in sales (-4.6%) on Black Friday relative to the previous four Fridays, despite the fact that average Black Friday discounts increased by 56% from the previous four Fridays.

Flowhub’s data showed an average Green Wednesday discount of $9.57 (up from $8.94 in 2020) and an average Black Friday discount of $11.09. Notable in Flowhub’s findings was the conclusion that while Green Wednesday was a big sales day, Thanksgiving weekend as a whole had lower pre-tax sales than a typical Wednesday through Sunday. Jushi Holdings (OTC: JUSHF) didn’t seem to notice, however, experiencing its best online sales day in the company’s history on Green Wednesday 2021 with an 80% uptick in sales during Thanksgiving week and online ordering up 200% on Green Wednesday. Eaze saw a 135% increase in deliveries compared to a typical Wednesday in 2021, making it their second biggest day this year by both numbers of deliveries and sales after 04/20/21.

Edibles Most Popular For Green Wednesday

Headset’s data on category winners by sales numbers showed edibles leading the pack with 67% growth on Green Wednesday and 11% on Black Friday. Topicals and tinctures took second and third place while beverages saw a whopping 86% growth. Leaflink showed flower holding the top spot for most popular category in the month leading up to Green Wednesday making up 33% of sales with cartridges coming in second up 24.9% from the previous month. Jane Technologies saw its biggest category sales increases in edibles (94%), vapes (84%), and flower (73%) compared to the previous three Wednesdays, with chocolates and disposables leading subcategory sales by increases of 126% and 100% respectively. For Glass House Brands (OTC: GLASF), flower, carts, and edibles were the big winners.

LeafLink’s data measured the growth of sales (10.61%) during the month leading up to Green Wednesday compared to October, with the biggest sales increase (16%) coming during the week of November 14^th over the previous week. The run-up to Green Wednesday broke records for cannabis company Lantern, with a 44% rise in average daily sales leading up to Green Wednesday, though there was no significant change to daily Average Order Value.  As the cannabis economy continues to transform to meet a shifting retail environment and shopping behaviors adaptive to these uncertain times, market analysts and retailers will continue to keep an eye on Green Wednesdays and Black Fridays to come as annual bellwethers for the market.