ABOUT THE FLASH
Each month, LeafLink will share data-driven insights into key topics like category sales, state-by-state performance, and pricing analysis. These takeaways, from our suite of real-time data and analytics tools, are meant to help you better understand where the industry is headed and capitalize on the most effective opportunities to accelerate your business growth.
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DECEMBER 2021 FLASH
Highlights
National View: The wholesale cannabis industry, as measured by LeafLink’s GMV (Gross Merchandise Value), grew 51% in November 2021 year-over-year (YoY).*
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When analyzing brands on LeafLink starting prior to January 1, 2020, GMV fell 0.4% YoY in November 2021. The top-performing brands for each of our seven key states in November were:
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Item 9 Labs (AZ)
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Jeeter (CA)
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Colorado Cannabis Company (CO)
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CHOICE (MI)
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City Trees (NV)
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Higher Cultures (OR)
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Cultivate (MA)
State View: Massachusetts grew the fastest at 20x compared with the same period a year ago.
Categories: Flower saw the largest drop in platform market share (-1.9 percentage points) from October 2021 to November 2021.
Buyers and Sellers: During November 2021, average sales per seller fell 5.3% YoY, and average spend per buyer grew 17.4% YoY.
KEY STATE FOCUS
CA
-15%
MA
20x
NV
42%
CO
-6.5%
OR
-17.7%
AZ
3%
MI
-11.5%
Massachusetts sees significant year-over-year growth
For November 2021, wholesale cannabis sales measured by transactions on LeafLink’s marketplace (GMV) increased by 51% YoY.
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To help clients better understand state-level trends, we disclose market-specific information for six key states each month. This month, we are adding Massachusetts as the seventh key state. Out of those disclosed this month, Arizona, Nevada, and Massachusetts grew the most YoY in terms of GMV with the latter seeing 20x growth over these periods.
CATEGORY ANALYSIS
Concentrates gain market share
Flower kept its number 1 spot this month with close to 31% of GMV during November 2021, despite a 2% dip in sales and a 3 percentage point dip in market share month-over-month, the latter being the largest drop in share on record.
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Conversely, Concentrates saw the largest increase this month, gaining 3.2 percentage points month over month. The 14.3% overall market share is on par with the market share over the same period last year.
RETAILER SEGMENTATION VIEW
Comparing Buyer Audiences in Missouri vs. Ohio
Comparing states by their average order value quintile provides a more holistic understanding of a brand’s retailers.
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When combined with Average Orders per Month, we obtain an even stronger understanding of competitive trends across states. For example, although MO retailers in the 4th quintile spend 8% more than those in the same quintile in OH, the difference in order frequency results in this group of retailers driving 193% more value on a monthly basis in Ohio.
MARKET SATURATION
Opportunity-seeking producers should look at Flower in Missouri
Each month, we visualize the relative competitiveness (as measured by the distance from the trendline in the charts below) of 7 categories in key states to help clients best position themselves for the future and take advantage of opportunities to capture market share.
For the fourth month in a row, Missouri had the most and least competitive categories, with Edibles & Ingestibles being the most competitive category and Flower being the least competitive category. Edibles & Ingestibles in Missouri are sold by 70% of brands but only take up 26% of sales while Flower is sold by 30% of brands but makes up 44% of sales.
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Outside of Missouri, Ohio had the second most competitive category overall with Edibles & Ingestibles being sold by 57% of brands but only accounting for 16% of sales.
BRAND PERFORMANCE
Transaction volume per brand is up by 5.3% YoY
In November, we saw a 43/57 split between brands seeing an increase in sales. Median brand growth was approximately 23% month-over-month (MoM), while those that declined saw a median reduction of 20%. Overall average transaction volume per brand decreased by 1.7% MoM during this month and increased 5.3% compared to the same period last year.
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The top brands in terms of same-store sales growth in each core state were Item 9 Labs (AZ), Jeeter (CA), Colorado Cannabis Company (CO), CHOICE (MI), City Trees (NV), Higher Cultures (OR), Cultivate (MA).
BUYER PERFORMANCE
Retailers spent 17.4% more in November 2021 vs. November 2020
Buyer spend had a similarly balanced ratio when looking at increase/decrease in spend. 54% of buyers increased spend at this time. Those buyers who did reduce their spend decreased it by 21%. Average transaction volume per buyer decreased by 3.5% MoM and 17.4% compared to the same period last year.
PRICING ANALYSIS
Price for Concentrates continues to rise
Average listed Flower prices*** remained steady during November, averaging a 1% decrease each week to end the month at $1,087, 4% below where it ended in October. Oregon saw the largest increase during this period, ending the month 5% higher than October.
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Average listed Concentrates prices** saw a more pronounced increase this month, averaging a 11.4% increase each week. The average price ended 13.3% higher than the previous high.
*In each of 2019, 2020, and 2021, we lock the number of brands on January 1st of each year and measure GMV for these brands only.
**Same store sales refers to the comparison of GMV for the same brands in the 2020 period to GMV for the same brands in the 2021 period.
***Flower pricing is in lbs and concentrates is in grams.
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Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) is defined as unit price times quantity sold. This is a barometer for overall volume of activity on our marketplace.
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