New BDSA Rapid Retail Sales Tracking Shows Upswing in February and March

BDSA, a business intelligence firm focused on global cannabis markets, announced the launch of its Rapid Retail Sales Tracking, a data dashboard that offers near real-time tracking of cannabis retail sales. The firm reported sales recovery in mature markets including Colorado, California, and Oregon, and strong growth in new markets, such as Illinois and Massachusetts after a dip in January.

“This dichotomy reflects underlying market economics driven by price drops competing with increased unit sales in mature markets, new retailer locations, and expanded licensing pushing growth in new markets,” BDSA explained in a press release. “Declines in the second half of 2021’s fiscal year impacted the largest markets as pandemic stimulus activities dried up and inflationary pressures took hold."

These release noted that the trends continued into January 2022.

“Despite moderate sales throughout January in several legal markets, BDSA Rapid Retail Sales Tracking shows strong recovery with positive week-over-week growth in February and March. We expect this growth to accelerate throughout 2022, especially in new and emerging markets,” said Jessica Lukas, chief commercial officer at BDSA. “BDSA’s new tracking solution offers rapid insights into the cannabis market to enable unparalleled product innovation.”

BDSA’s tracking metrics show that Arizona, an emerging market, saw a 10% drop in dollar sales in January before stabilizing in February and March.

Meanwhile, Colorado, a mature market, also showed positive weekly trends in February and March after an 11% dip in January 2022 versus January 2021.

Data also reveals that price declines are ubiquitous across categories in several markets including California, where market challenges are forcing rapid changes across the industry and leading to financial distress among many cultivators, manufacturers, and retailers. Flower, the largest category in California, shows a +10% Average Retail Price decline in the last six months. This price compression, plus tax and regulatory burdens, is forcing many California operators to make adjustments to business operations to stay afloat.

BDSA’s Rapid Retail Sales Tracking is now available to provide up-to-date market performance by state, category, brand, and pricing across BDSA’s 12 tracked U.S. markets.

Image Via El Planteo.