Akerna Flash Report: 420 Is Predicted to Bring In Over $130 Million in Legal Cannabis Sales

DENVER – Akerna (Nasdaq: KERN), a enterprise software company and the developer of one of the most comprehensive technology infrastructures, ecosystems, and compliance engine powering the global cannabis industry, predicts that U.S. cannabis shoppers will spend nearly $130 million on legal cannabis on April 20th, known as “420”, an unofficial but widely celebrated cannabis consumption holiday, which would become the largest sales day in legal cannabis history.

Compared to last year’s 420, which brought in nearly $112 million and became the industry’s largest sales day to date, this year’s 420 would be a 16% growth over last year’s sales. As more markets legalize cannabis and more Americans become comfortable with the legal cannabis industry, these year-over-year increases are expected to continue.

With 420 landing on a Wednesday this year, expect traffic to start increasing on April 15th, the Friday ahead of 420. In total, the Friday to Wednesday period is expected to see cannabis sales figures above the $400 million range.

To put that into perspective, the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division recently reported the state’s largest year of liquor sales ever – which surpassed $400 million for the first time. This means that the U.S. cannabis retail industry is predicted to bring in more sales in just six days than Iowa did for liquor sales in a record-breaking year.

While there is no federal tax due to the lack of legalization, if you were to compare that $400 million in sales to Colorado’s taxes, one of the first legal adult-use markets and where Akerna is headquartered, the sales taxes resulting from consumer spending in those six days would be nearly $90 million.

“We are approaching the biggest day for our industry, making it critical for dispensaries to plan promotions, staff, and space for these large upticks in traffic,” said James Ahrendt, Business Intelligence Architect at Akerna. “To help alleviate some of the traffic, cannabis retailers using Akerna’s MJ Retail POS solution can leverage the platform’s kiosk mode. In kiosk mode, the budtender gives the MJ Retail tablet to the customer, who can then shop the store’s offerings on the device, similar to how they would in an online order, allowing stores to serve more customers and ultimately complete more sales per hour.”

Other predicted values for the long “holiday” weekend (4/15 – 4/20)

• Category Sales:
  • Flower – 49%
  • Cartridge/Pens – 31%
  • Concentrates – 11%
  • Infused Edibles – 8%
  • Other – 1%
• Sales by demographic:
  • 61% men
  • 39% women
• Sales by age groups:
  • Under 30 – 30%
  • 30-40 –31%
  • 40-50 – 20%
  • 50-60 –11%
  • Over 60 – 8%

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.

(This information is primarily sourced from Akerna.  Highly Capitalized has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Read our Disclaimer here).