MJBizMag November-December 2022 - 52

Flying Off the Shelves
of marijuana consumers use
cannabis multiple times per day
47% of marijuana consumers use
cannabis multiple times per day,
17% use daily, while another
10% consume five times per week.
Rather than market to new users,
Brightfield's managing director,
Bethany Gomez, said marijuana
executives should focus on existing
users, the majority of whom consume
frequently and spend a lot of money
on cannabis.
" That 75% of heavy users is who you
want to hit. They are a large group ...
so there's a lot of opportunity there, "
she said.
Frequent cannabis consumers often
buy different products for different
occasions, meaning business owners
can appeal to them through product
variety and affordability.
" Sales of pre-rolls, vape carts and
edibles-which grew at a slower clip
during COVID-are now enjoying a
bigger growth pace because those are
more sharable and portable items, "
said Cooper Ashley, analytics manager
for Seattle-based cannabis data firm
Headset.
OVERESTIMATING THE
NEW CONSUMER MARKET
While some manufacturers and
retailers have identified the right
product balance, Gomez said many
assumptions from cannabis executives
are just plain wrong.
" There are a lot of misconceptions
about who the cannabis consumer
is and how this industry is going to
evolve, " she said. " While it very much
is a consumer packaged goods industry
... those that cater too much to that
future consumer-or the consumer that
wouldn't touch a joint with a 10-foot
pole-have lost that view of where the
heart and soul of the industry is. "
Gomez added: " Most brands are not
going to see a lot of success trying to
build their brand around occasional
users. There's only so many of them,
and they don't spend that much. "
According to Brightfield, only 6% of
all cannabis users are new recreational
users, while only 3% are new medical
users. Consequently, companies
targeting such consumers likely are
misjudging the size of that market.
" The actual number of net new users
is pretty small as a percentage of the
overall consumer group, " she said. " We
see a lot of companies trying to build
their strategies around that future
consumer. And, quite frankly, it's a
fairly difficult strategy to bank on. "
EVOLVING PRODUCT
MARKET SHARE
Flower accounts for at least 40% of
marijuana sales in markets covered by
Headset. But non-flower products are
part of more valuable and more diverse
basket sizes.
In emerging recreational markets
such as Illinois, New Jersey and New
Mexico, flower is losing market share
to other product types, according to
Madeline Scanlon, senior insights
analyst for the Brightfield Group.
" Flower's declining share of shelf
space in emerging markets doesn't
50 November-December 2022 | MJBizMagazine
Bethany Gomez
translate to less flower options but
instead more options for cannabis
extracts, " she said. " Flower's share of
the market will decline to make room
for more diverse product types like
edibles, vapes and concentrates in
(new) markets. "
Headset's Ashley agreed: " That is
a long-term trend line that we see
in every cannabis market. When
that new market opens, flower starts
with pretty high market share, just
because it's the easiest product to
manufacture. ... And then, over time,
in every single market, flower tends
to slowly-drastically at first and then
continue slowly-decrease in market
share as operators get up and running
with other, more complicated product
formats. "
This trend translates into
opportunity for product manufacturers
and highlights the importance of
product variety for retailers.
MJBizMag November-December 2022

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