Akerna Flash Report: In Q1 2020 Women Outspent Men on Cannabis

Flower is the Top Purchase for Women with Vape a Close Second

DENVER, April 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Business intelligence from Akerna (Nasdaq: KERN), a leading compliance technology provider and developer of the cannabis industry’s first seed-to-sale enterprise resource planning (ERP) software technology (MJ Platform®) shows women, across all age groups 18-55+ drove cannabis sales in the first quarter, 2020. The average amount spent by women increased by 50% in March.

*The Numbers, Q1 2020 :

Total cannabis sales increased in Q1 2020 by 16% over Q4 2019. The top products purchased in Q1 in each category:

• Concentrates:         8% of purchases for women and  12% of purchases for men
• Edibles:                 12% of purchases for women and 8% of purchases for men
• Flower:                  40% of purchases for women and 45% of purchases for men
• Vape:                     39% of purchases for women and 35% of purchases for men

“March saw huge changes in the market, sometimes even day to day, breaking the regular cycles.  Repeat buyers are consistently spending much more per visit, with the size of women’s shopping carts growing even more than men,” said Aryeh Primus, vice president of analytics, Akerna. “In March, the average basket size for women hit an all time high above $105, while for men basket size was below that for March 2019.”

Since the height of the vape issue in 2019, Akerna’s business intelligence team has been evaluating vape sales and consumer preference related to the category. In general, vape sales have remained steady nationwide. Data shows:

• Vape sales in August 2019, at the height of the issue, had 31% of market share based on total sales, today, vape has 36% of the market share based on total sales.
• In Sept. 2019, our data shows, vape sales declined 7%. However, in September, sales across the industry dipped. By October, vape sales were up over 9% and sustained steady growth for the balance of the year.
• Overall, vape sales have continued to slowly gain market share by a couple of percentage points each month since October 2019.
• As Pertains to COVID-19: vape sales were up, even during the pandemic, over 9%.

“The sustained trend in vape sales is interesting. It seems once consumers realized the products with the potential to threaten their health were those purchased on the illicit market, sales of legal products resumed an upward trend,” said Primus.

With demand at an all-time high, the MJ Platform team is available to help operators make smarter business decisions through analytics and reporting. MJ Platform can help with:

1. Inventory Management: Know what you have on hand, know what you can promote, and know where things are limited.
2. Run Rates: Know what your sales velocity is and get a handle on daily run rates, trends, and spikes.
3. Ordering: Know what to order, not just based on demand, but on historical sales and what’s hot during this time of high demand.

Current clients can learn more click here.
New to MJ Platform? Click here to request a demo today.

About The Akerna Flash Report

Flash Report is a look at buying trends in the cannabis market as captured by Akerna’s MJ Freeway subsidiary. MJ Freeway provides operators with MJ Platform, the industry-leading solution for regulatory compliance technology, from seed-to-sale-to-self.

About Akerna

Akerna is a global regulatory compliance technology company. Akerna’s service offerings include MJ Platform®, Leaf Data Systems®, and solo sciences tech platform. Since its establishment in 2010, Akerna has tracked more than $18 billion in cannabis sales. Akerna is based in Denver. For more information, please visit www.akerna.com and follow us on Twitter @AkernaCorp.

*Data is derived from MJ Platform, the leading provider of cannabis compliance software for the marijuana industry. Reporting data is derived from operators using Akerna’s MJ Platform solutions. Increases are relative to the prior period.

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 words 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.

Released April 3, 2020