Sales data was released by Akerna on April 26 in a flash report, which shared that the industry collected a total of $154.4 million in combined recreational and medical cannabis sales. Akerna reports that 2021 sales records previously held the record for most cannabis sales on 4/20.
In the weekend following up to 4/20 (April 15-April 20), retail sales varied greatly. The highest sales day, other than 4/20, was Friday, April 15 at $94.3 million, and the lowest was Sunday, April 17 at $38.9 million. The entire weekend netted a total of $485.3 million.
Akerna originally released a prediction report on April 12, projecting that cannabis sales on 4/20 would hit $130 million, and that total weekend sales would rise up to $494 million. The company’s projections were very close to early sales data. “Using our historical Akerna data, we released a prediction report that the period around 420 would bring in a total of $494 million, only –1.79% variance from the actual sales of $485.3 million,” said Akerna Business Intelligence Architect James Ahrendt. “This is a testament to the power of our data analytics. By leveraging data-driven insights, cannabis businesses can make strategic predictions and decisions for their businesses.”
Akerna was formed when MJ Freeway and MTech merged in 2019, but it was initially founded in 2010 in response to the growing need for software to support “visibility, data and analytics, and robust inventory tracking that the cannabis industry requires to be successful.” Akerna’s most recent data is defined as a “flash report” that “looks at buying trends in the cannabis market as captured by Akerna’s flagship solution, MJ Platform,” Akerna shared in a press release.
The success of this year’s cannabis sales is impressive. Akerna mentions