How can licensed business operators across the supply chain prepare for the year’s biggest industry holiday? In this article we share ten great ways Producers, Processors, and Distributors can prepare for the 4/20 holiday.
How Can Businesses Prepare for 4/20?
Around the country, and world, April 20th is an industry holiday celebrating cannabis products, science, and culture. Primarily a consumer-based holiday, retailers everywhere know that running events, discounts, and sales on 4/20 practically guarantees sales boosts anywhere cannabis is legal.
But if you’re a cannabis Cultivator, Processor, or Distributor, you’re probably aware that the 4/20 holiday may look a little different than for Dispensary operations. For one thing, the majority of 4/20 sales orders and workflows happen long before the holiday itself (for one example, see “the 4/20 day slump” below). This means operators have to get started early to make the most out of the holiday season!
Want to make sure your operation is ready for the biggest industry holiday of the year? Here are 10 key steps to make sure your business is prepped for 4/20:
- Utilize Analytics & Business Intelligence
- Market Research
- Review Products & Branding
- Get Products Up Early
- Offer Holiday Discounts
- Get The Word Out!
- Boost Your Digital Presence
- Build Partnerships
- Be Ready For The 4/20 Slump
- Give To A Good Cause
Read on to get details and tips for each.
10 Ways to Prep For 4/20 With Cultivera
1. Utilize Analytics & Business Intelligence
Review your data from previous years from your point-of-sale or seed-to-sale software, to see what kinds of products and tactics have worked best in the past.
Previous sales numbers from the 4/20 season can help you to better prepare for the upcoming holiday! What did you sell most; to who; and when? Cultivera Pro offers a full Analytics Module so you can use these details to make a clear action plan for the upcoming year!
2. Market Research
If you haven’t yet, make sure to use social media and other resources to check out historic data on your area, and in your particular inventory category.
What do consumers and dispensaries post the most about in your region? What’s popular or trending? What kinds of sales and events are happening you can take advantage of or join in on?
3. Review Products & Branding
Good product branding helps sell! This means it’s critical to check on your most recent inventory and branding to make sure everything is up to date.
Good branding standards (and high quality photos) help you stand out so that shoppers recognize you! A great example is your logo: updating your logo to reflect the upcoming holiday, or a specific discount offer, helps your brand stand out on digital menu platforms like the Cultivera Market.
Is your logo accurate and visible? Does everything look right? Does any of your product need updated descriptions, photos, or information?
4. Get Products Up Early
Get your most up-to-date menu into your Cultivera Market sales portal, or similar B2B marketplace platform, ASAP!
It’s a basic truth of sales that if your buyers don’t know you have product to buy, it won’t get sold! So make sure your licensed, compliant product is live and up-to-date in your B2B menu portals as soon as possible, ensuring Retail buyers see your inventory during their pre-holiday shopping!
Organize your current inventory and get your most up-to-date menu into your online B2B marketplace, so you can start selling ASAP! If you’re a Cultivera Pro customer, updating your products ensures your Cultivera Market portal is accurate and ready for holiday sales!
Plus, promoting your online order portal like these top sellers do is a great way to boost orders!
Got questions about how to get started? Contact us!
5. Offer Holiday Discounts
It may go without saying, but some operators forget that one of the simplest ways to boost sales ahead of 4/20 is to run a series of discounts for your B2B buyers! Figure out which products will be marked down, and what kind of discounts you’re offering buyers.
This may be a single discount across all products, “Buy One, Get One” offers, or tiered discount categories that reward shoppers for placing larger orders. Whichever kind of discounts you choose, offering your shoppers a little something extra for the holidays can go a long way to increasing order size and gaining repeat customers.
6. Get The Word Out!
We consistently see that the brands with the most success in the Cultivera Marketplace are the ones using combinations of multiple tactics to reach potential buyers, including two of the simplest outreach methods out there: email updates and phone calls.
Whether you’re utilizing the included CRM in Cultivera Pro, or making calls from your own contacts lists, taking a few minutes to reach out by phone or send out menu alerts ahead of the holiday can help to make sure buyers know what you have to offer! If you have new, featured, or discounted product, let them know now to get sales in quick!
Getting closer to 4/20? Send out a last-minute email blast to to existing and potential buyers letting them know your up-to-date menu and what holiday deals they can take advantage of by ordering ASAP!
7. Boost Your Digital Presence
If you don’t already have social media accounts on key platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn, now is a good time to get started!
Staying active on your digital platforms can be a much more creative method of staying connected with your network while growing your potential audiences. Plus, having a strong social media brand connects you with both your existing network and new potential markets.
Use these spaces to show your strengths ahead of the holidays! Post about your current and upcoming inventory, product, and discounts whenever able (following social media guidelines of course). By adding a link to your B2B order platform like the Cultivera Market on your social media profiles, and website, you can easily boost who’ll be able to shop your online menu.
At Cultivera, we also offer a “Find Us On The Market” badge that you can share on your website, through emails, or in posts on social media to let shoppers know where to find you with the click of a button.
8. Build Partnerships
One of the best things about the cannabis industry is the strong sense of community felt throughout the market. The 4/20 holiday is a great time to come together for an event, challenge, or dual-promotion! 🫱🏾🫲🏾
A great example would be reaching out to local dispensaries running an event where your brand can be represented. If you have connections with other business operators in your area, or online, ask about teaming up to promote each others’ holiday offers and events.
Cultivera offers customers a 4/20 social media partnership every year, with digital shout outs in our newsletter and on our social media platforms, to help brands get the most out of the holiday season. Interested? Give us a shout!
9. Be Ready for the 4/20 Slump
In the past, we’ve noticed a trend in Washington’s Cultivera Marketplace where B2B sales rise steeply in the month before April 20th, then drop suddenly on the day of 4/20 itself. The sudden drop-off is quickly followed by another intense rise after the holiday. You can see this trend reflected in last year’s Q2 Cultivera Market Report for Washington state. Click here to check it out.
But why the B2B slump?
Since Dispensaries typically spend the weeks before 4/20 stocking their shelves, and the holiday itself brings lines of shoppers looking for discounts, Dispensary operators are likely just too busy with retail sales on the day of 4/20 to place new orders. But after the holiday is over, B2B sales pick right back up as Dispensaries work to restock their post-sale shelves!
This often means B2B sales teams can expect minimal order numbers on April 20th, and should prepare to put their efforts in other tasks. It also makes the day of 4/20 a great time to offer an extra special B2B discount to reward shoppers who take the time to place an order.
10. Give To A Good Cause
Shoppers of all kinds love a chance to make their dollar mean something. Give your buyers the opportunity to do just that by committing a small portion of product sales to a charitable cause.
Whether it’s a non-profit related to the industry, or a cause your team cares about, showing support in some way allows your buyers to feel they are doing a little more, just by shopping with you.
Is Your Software Helping You Prepare For The Holiday?
The Cultivera Pro platform connected with Cultivera Market’s streamlined B2B ordering portal is built to connect licensed sellers with qualified buyers in their area with the click of a button.
If your business’s software solution isn’t helping you prepare for the holiday with intuitive analytics, traceability integration, and a full suite of operations workflows, book a demo today to see what Cultivera Pro + Market can do to help your business GROW.
