Since the beginning of legal cannabis, the industry has been changing rapidly. Increasing legalization across the US has led to an increase in interest in cannabis as a whole, which has led to consistently increasing sales and a growing diversity of customers.
The newest states to legalize cannabis are Montana, Arizona, South Dakota, and New Jersey. This wave of legalization raised the number of fully legal states from 11 to 15 on top of 3 US territories.
With more and more states legalizing, talk of cannabis being legalized federally, and the increasing popularity of cannabis in the US in general, the US cannabis industry is projected to reach a value of $30 billion annually by 2025 according to New Frontier Data.
With a total of 33 states and D.C. having legalized cannabis either medically or recreationally, the prospect of increasing legalization, and an astounding compound annual growth rate of 22%, the cannabis industry is in a position to do big things in the coming years.
How do you stay on top in an industry like this? While it will take a number of different tactics to stay on top, one of the most important things you can do in order to stay on top in the cannabis industry is paying attention to trends.
In this article, we’ll be talking about the most important trends to pay attention to in 2021. Taking these trends into consideration when developing your strategy for tackling the year will be crucial to making the most of it.
Cannabis industry trends to pay attention to in 2021
High THC Levels
Over the past couple of years, one of the biggest trends in the cannabis industry has been the search for the highest THC levels. Each year growers get more and more creative with crosses, new strains, and better techniques for growing quality bud, and one of their main motivations behind this is to raise the THC levels of the bud they are producing.
Essentially, the higher the THC level of the bud, the more cannabis customers will view it as a “high-quality strain.” With demand rising for high-THC bud, there is another aspect to this trend: price.
What customers want is not only high-THC bud, but they want high-THC bud at a modest price. Striking this balance will be key to making the most out of this trend in the coming year.
More demand for eCommerce and delivery (COVID)
Another industry trend to look out for in the coming year is the increasing demand for eCommerce and delivery options.
Initially, these options began to skyrocket in popularity towards the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, but don’t think that when the pandemic ends, or at least eases up, that these options won’t continue to grow in popularity.
Cannabis dispensaries and Brands have turned to large cannabis eCommerce sites such as Jane, Dutchie, and Weedmaps to meet this demand for eCommerce and delivery options. If you haven’t already, this year you’ll want to make sure your customers can easily find you on these eCommerce sites.
Increased legalization
The wave of cannabis legalization has been growing steadily and will continue to grow in the coming year. As of now, over half of the states in the US, 36 states, have some sort of cannabis legalizing legislation in place, and there’s more to come.
Specifically, we can expect to see both New York and Texas jumping onto the cannabis legalization wave in 2021.
In the case of New York, being on the East coast they are in a very cannabis-friendly region. With New Jersey’s recent cannabis legalization going into effect soon, recreational cannabis being legal in Massachusetts, and medical marijuana being legal in Pennsylvania, New York is ready to tap into the tax revenues that cannabis brings just as these other states have
New York is expected to legalize in some aspect as soon as April of 2021. The state’s governor requested that the legislature include a measure in the state budget for January to enact cannabis state law.
With this Texas is another state on the brings of jumping on the legalization wave. A bill filed in late 2020 aims to legalize cannabis and establish a legal cannabis industry in the state. If passed, the texas cannabis market could gross over $1 billion in tax revenues.
More diverse array of customers
With more and more states legalizing cannabis, more and more people are getting access to legal cannabis who may have had reservations about trying it when it was technically “illegal.”
Specifically, you can expect to see more baby boomers (roughly, people age 55 – 75) purchasing cannabis as well as business professionals and other categories of people who may be new to cannabis with recent legalization.
Appealing to these new customers will be extremely important, and in doing this you want to focus on educating them about cannabis. Specifically, you’ll want to highlight benefits to well-being and the body.
You’ll also want to make the experience of purchasing cannabis feel safe and comfortable. Many of these new customers may still have the idea of a “drug-deal” in mind. It’s important that even before they walk into your doors that you dispel this misconception.
Recap
Staying on top in this rapidly changing industry isn’t easy, but if you pay attention to the trends it’ll make it a lot easier to do. From the demand for high levels of THC in strains and concentrates, to eCommerce and delivery, to legalization, increased sales, and a growing diversity of customers, all of these trends will be important to making the most out of 2021 in the cannabis industry.
If you want more tips on marketing in the cannabis industry, customer retention marketing, or anything else cannabis, check out our blog!
CEO and Co-founder of springbig
Jeffrey Harris