How to Create Successful Promotions: Your Palentine’s Valentine’s Day Tips & Tricks

The season of love is here, and we’ve got some news for you: V-Day isn’t just about THC! This year, why not incorporate some CBD to relax and enjoy a more pleasurable overall experience? Think of combining beverages, body products, sensual products, and of course, edibles!

In fact, grabbing some edibles for the occasion is a smart choice, and a popular one, especially among older groups of consumers. It’s worth noting that within each age group, women have a higher affinity for edibles than male customers. So offering a bag of gummies to your gal is likely to be a winning strategy. 

We checked in with our friends at Headset and the stats don’t lie: edibles are one of the favourite ways of enjoying cannabis, accounting for 5.8% of market share in ON, SK, AB, and BC so far in 2022. Both gummies and chocolates had their best performance around Christmas in 2021.  This is an interesting insight as we come into a holiday historically tied to sweets. In ONTARIO 92.9% of edible sales fall in the 10mg THC package size (in the last 365 days).

*ON BC AB SK in 2022 YTD

Consumers love the many shapes, sizes, colors, and flavors that edibles offer, but gummies are by far the most popular product, clocking in at 65.1% of edibles' sales². This classic format is perfect for sharing! 

Although Flower remains king, Edibles make the perfect impulse item, especially near your check-out, helping to increase your average basket.  They’re just so dang delicious and approachable which easily explains the impressive attachment rate.

Some Promotional Ideas by Price Point to inspire you:

• Under $30
  • Grab and go 
    • A couple of beverages and edibles 
      • Chocolates and bubbly drinks to create cannabis cocktails
• Under $50
  • Something thoughtful
    • New flower cultivar to try together 
      • A splurge on something new and interesting 
    • Add in a couple of soft chews to round out the flavour profile
• Under $75
  • Night in 
    • Multiple kinds of edibles 
    • Body products including sensual products 
    • Pre-roll to end the night 

Promotions should always have measurable goals and KPIs assigned ahead of launch. Alignment between internal departments or between you and your budtending team is critical to each and every program’s success. Like all national holidays, consumers start to expect a promotion for the weekend leading up to and including a day like Feb 13th/14th but note that we didn’t say a deal. Having these three price point bundles beautifully displayed with the right seasonal touch can be just as inspiring for consumers willing to make the night/weekend special. If you do decide to utilize a discount as a part of your promotion, just ensure you’re working with enough lead time to get the word out to loyal consumers to ensure you aren’t in the position of discounting your overall sales without increasing guest count numbers. 

Most importantly, add some appreciation and fun for your people, whether it’s a sales contest or something that builds the team up, putting in the extra effort to make your team feel valued will always create the best consumer experience.