MJBizMag November-December 2021 - 44

What Consumers Want
Basket Composition
The key to understanding buying patterns of cannabis consumers is to
look at the contents of their baskets. For example, flower shoppers
rarely spend outside of that category, while beverage purchases tend
to be add-ons. A look at basket composition through Oct. 11 for the
combined CA, CO, NV, OR and WA markets.
Spend on category
Average
$49.48
$45.83
$45.43
$45.34
Flower
Capsules
$52.30
Vape pens
$21.98
Tinctures & sublinguals
$45.04
Concentrates
$36.99
$36.63
$33.13
$21.80
$20.86
$23.37
Topicals
$44.89
Beverages
Edibles
Pre-rolls
$21.72
$34.08
45.54
How to read the chart: The
average basket spend on
concentrates was $36.99.
Those customers also spent
an average of $23.37 on
other categories.
Add-ons: Categories with a
high spend on other items
usually indicate the category
is an add-on purchase.
Source: Headset
T
he marijuana industry has never
been so replete with cannabis
product formats: flower, vape
cartridges, concentrates, edibles and
infused beverages as well as topicals,
tinctures, capsules and other offerings.
For marijuana executives, these
choices present opportunities and
challenges that are best navigated
by understanding what consumers
want from their cannabis products.
Answering that question is especially
tricky because marijuana consumers are
so varied-different genders, age groups
and income classes, to start-and their
goals for cannabis consumption can be
very different.
Nevertheless, sales data and anecdotal
evidence reveal nationwide trends,
although there is some variation by
region and store.
For example, flower remains the No. 1
product format-although its market share
has waned over time as different formats
have become available and consumers
have become more open to trying them.
Flower is typically followed by vape
cartridges, concentrates, edibles and
infused beverages-then topicals and
other products.
What compels consumers to buy
certain cannabis products mostly depends
on the individual, each customer's goals
and experience level with cannabis.
Dispensary executives cite multiple factors
that play into the decision, including:
* Potency.
* Effect.
* Terpenes and secondary
cannabinoids.
* Ease of use and convenience.
* Familiarity.
* Price.
* Extraction methods.
* Aroma and taste.
Some of these attributes are important
across product niches-such as
potency and price-while others drive
more interest to specific products.
For example, " familiarity " played a
significant role in driving new or return
cannabis consumers to flower, edibles
and infused beverages but less so with
concentrates. " Ease and convenience, "
44 MJBizMagazine | November-December 2021
meanwhile, helped drive pre-roll and
vape cartridge sales but weren't traits
sought out by consumers of flower,
concentrates and other formats.
TIDE OF TRENDS
" They've become far more sophisticated, "
Ann DeMarco, general manager at
Highland Health, a recreational marijuana
store in Trinidad, Colorado, said of
cannabis consumers. " There's so much
information available now to consumers
that they come in already with a lot of
knowledge. Consumers become more
sophisticated more quickly than a few
years ago because budtenders are better
educated about products than before and
can pass that knowledge on to consumers.
" Eight to 10 years ago, you had to
search and search and search to find
reliable, accurate information. "
Now, DeMarco noted, " we have
consumers coming in telling us about
products we haven't heard of. They ask
about extraction methods, or if we carry
the edibles with the new fast-acting
nanotechnology. "
Spend on other categories
Average
$12.10
MJBizMag November-December 2021

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