Global cannabis sales reached 35 billion dollars in 2022, an increase of 22% over 2021 sales. Overall, global cannabis sales are projected to reach 61 billion dollars by 2026.
Marijuana products are gaining more popular acceptance in the United States with 19 states, Guam, and Washington DC legalizing recreational use, with 38 states in all approving cannabis for medical use.
With a growing market and changing public sentiment about cannabis-derived products, dispensaries should know exactly what trends are happening as we head into 2023.
Below, we look at the up-to-date trends in cannabis marketing and merchandising in medicinal and recreational dispensaries.
Concentrates Rising in Popularity
A 2020 report by Fortune Business Insights shows concentrates are about 45+% of the cannabis product market, with flower and other categories making up the remaining 55%. Concentrates are a category that includes CO2 oil, butane hash oil, shatter, wax, live resin, budder, kief, ice water hash, and rosin. A 2021 report by Headset.io showed concentrate sales grew by 102% in 2021 in the Canadian market.
Concentrates are easily accessible by consumers new to cannabis, which makes this fast-growing category important for dispensary merchandising.
Cannabis Beverage Sales Increasing
The last few years have been innovative for a newer product category, canna-beverages. These low-dose edibles are beverages that contain THC, and are growing in popularity in the US and Canada.
According to a report by Headset.io, cannabis infused beverages saw a 23% increase in consumption in the US and a 60% increase in Canada in 2021 vs the previous year.
This trend seems primed to continue robust growth in 2023.
Lighting Plays Important Part in Dispensary Merchandising
Cannabis dispensaries are essentially retail experiences, and consumers expect to see similar aesthetics. Store lighting, outdoor lighting, and lighting on the sales floor helps create an ambience of safety, security, and confidence in consumers. LED lighting used on display cases and product displays helps illuminate products and generate customer interest.
In many dispensaries, bud flower is displayed in secure pods that allow customers to examine the samples. LED lighting can be used to call attention to individual flower strains or groups of flower samples. Lighting can also be used to accentuate concentrates, resin, and shatter in secure display pods.
Accent lighting throughout the store helps draw attention to specific products or displays. Track lighting, recessed lighting, and ambient lighting is a large part of the store aesthetics and overall experience.
Women are a Larger Part of Cannabis Market
Cannabis is increasingly used by women, and this demographic is a steadily growing part of the market.
A 2021 report by Headset showed the number of women cannabis customers increased by 55% between 2020 and 2021. The number of male customers in the same period grew by 49%.
Additionally, a 2022 report by Eaze revealed that women made up 48% of all new cannabis customers in 2021, with men making up 52% of new customers. For an idea of how this number has increased, as recently as 2018, the number of new male customers to female customers for cannabis was 62% to 38%. This means new female customers have grown significantly over the past five years.
Cannabis is Increasingly Accepted for Pain Management
Recently, a poll of 1,207 respondents found that many people see cannabis as helpful for pain management, especially if they have used cannabis previously. A 2021 SurveyMonkey poll found that cannabis use is seen as effective for pain management by 82% of people who have recently used marijuana.
49% of all respondents found cannabis somewhat or very effective for pain relief, with an almost identical split of male and female respondents answering positively.
Many new customers may be coming to dispensaries to try products for medicinal effects.
CBD Products Accepted by Mainstream
CBD products are accepted by the majority of the general public in the US, with one in seven adults using CBD. A 2019 Gallup poll showed 14% of all US adults use CBD, with a whopping 20% of people aged 18-29 using CBD.
Why do people use CBD? The top three reasons are for non-specific pain (40%), anxiety (20%), and to help them sleep (11%).
Having professional CBD displays will help your dispensary sell CBD products, which are more popular than ever before.
Green Wednesday is a New Cannabis Sales Holiday
Falling on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Green Wednesday has been one of the top sales days in the cannabis industry for the past few years. Along with April 20th, this sales holiday was thought to have been named by a cannabis delivery company in 2016, when they noticed a huge sales jump on this day. Traditional retail stores have Black Friday, cannabis dispensaries have Green Wednesday. Be sure to add this day to your calendar of sales events throughout the year.
We Help Dispensaries Merchandise Products Effectively
For more than 25 years, Bud Bar Displays has been designing award-winning retail displays and store fixtures. Our team of specialists was assembled with one goal in mind – to help cannabis dispensaries display products in a professional manner and increase their overall revenue. Dispensaries around the world have used our line of display cases, store fixtures, and product displays to highlight their product lines.
If you need fixtures and displays for your dispensary, we can help you determine exactly how to design a memorable customer experience.
If you need help with choosing the right product displays for your dispensary, contact the team at Bud Bar Displays, or call us at (916) 858-2000.