Cannabis consumers come from all walks of life, making it hard to pinpoint what the average dispensary customer is looking for during a visit. For brands, knowing who your audience is can help you craft marketing strategies, hone in on your branding, and even help identify what products and price point your target audience is after. As more data is released each year, we gain a more well-rounded picture of who stops by their local dispensary and how often they're there. While cannabis lovers come from all kinds of backgrounds, understanding the state of the industry today could help a brand make more educated decisions, and is at the very least fun to know.
Interestingly enough, men account for the majority of dispensary customers, even though there are more women executives in the cannabis industry than any other sector of the economy. Men make up 68.9 percent of the customer base (Headset), but this could be due to the heavy male influence in mainstream cannabis culture. As far as age is concerned, 25- to 29-year-olds take the lead for most commonly found at a dispensary, with 21- to 24-year-olds close behind. Nevertheless, a cannabis consumer's average age is 37.6 years old, demonstrating the broad age range of those interested in this magical plant (Headset). Most visitors to a dispensary will spend between $25 and $50 per trip (Headset) and an average of $600-$645 each year. When over half of all customers spend at least $500 per year on cannabis (Headset), you have to wonder what products account for this spending.
Each state is different regarding which category of products they like to purchase, but across the board, flower is the most popular. California customers have an evident fondness for vape pens compared to Colorado, Washington, and Nevada, and flower is clearly the favorite for Colorado and Nevada, accounting for nearly 50 percent of all their sales. While flower is slightly more common in male carts, women tended to be more experimental, trying non-traditional products, like infused drinks and topicals (Headset). Pre-rolls specifically are most popular with customers in their twenties, the percentage of its popularity decreasing as the age group increases. On the flip side, edibles and non-traditional products are seen in carts more often as the age group increases (Headset).
But how do customers choose one brand over another? Data shows customers are more likely to pick a brand that aligns with their psychological constructs, like incentives or reward programs, a created community around the brand, achievements by the brand, or simply an authoritative position in the space. Many gravitate toward brands that focus on cannabis education, but consistency within the brand is a big necessity for most customers. Consistency goes beyond the physical product itself; it goes into the packaging, pricing, customer service, and reliability. Customers like to see the brand they love on the shelf every time they visit the store, as people are more likely to buy a brand they recognize over a brand they don't know. Personalization is another key factor for customers, especially as the industry continues to place greater attention on the craft cannabis space. Customers are beginning to understand what they are looking for, like cannabinoid content, strain choices, terpene profiles, and cultivation inputs. By understanding the customer wishes to tailor the experience specifically to their unique desires, a brand can provide avenues for personalization through their products.
As a bulk wholesale cannabis provider, Hive Mendocino knows how important it is to your brand's success for our products to be consistent and true to their cultivar's traits. We care about what we put into our plants throughout their growth cycle, which is why we took steps to become Simply Clean certified. Our extensive menu of flower options has strains of all types, but because we are a group of farms, we can offer you batch sizes that are competitive with large-scale operations. Our small, family-owned farms cultivate craft cannabis that stands out in the sea of options, so reach out to us today to receive our full inventory list and learn more about the Hive Mendocino difference.
Photo by: Chris Butler