420 Sets New All-Time Highest Sales Record

I am elated to report yet another successful 420 for Akerna and the cannabis industry at large. Our data shows that this years' 420 broke all existing cannabis sales records with over $154.4 million in national US cannabis retail sales; the previous largest day ever, 4/20/21, brought in just over $111.8 million in sales. In just one year, our industry saw more than 40 million additional dollars spent on cannabis for 420. To put these numbers into an even greater perspective, the largest sales day in 2020 (12/31/20) brought in $85 million – about half of what our industry saw this Wednesday. ??

The time period around the holiday (4/15-4/20) brought in a total of $485.3 million in cannabis retail sales. For more perspective, the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division recently reported the state's largest year of liquor sales ever, surpassing $400 million for the first time. This means that the US cannabis retail industry brought in more sales in just six days than Iowa did for liquor sales in a record-breaking year.??

These year-over-year increases illustrate the growth in new consumers and retail sales, but they miss a significant component of the supply chain – the wholesale transactions happening that bring products from seed to shelf. These transactions are measured in two distinct ways: the dollar amount of any given transaction and the number of transactions that take place.???

By measuring our clients' transaction growth, we can see that they are tomorrow's industry leaders. Collectively, their transaction dollar amount and transaction volume consistently grow between 25% and 50% year over year. These clients are scaling in two ways: expansion through acquisitions as they participate in market consolidation and same-facility growth. We believe transaction growth is the single most important long-term leading indicator of our true market share.????

As we close out this week, I find myself reflecting on the growth we've experienced, both as a company and as an industry. From supporting the infancy of Colorado's market to scaling with global operators, we've helped this industry grow to where it is today, and we are here to help it grow to where it is headed tomorrow. ??

I can't wait to watch it all unfold.?