Rocco Del Priore (courtesy photo)
(This is a contributed guest column. To be considered as an MJBizDaily guest columnist, please submit your request here.)
April 20 is still the busiest day of the year for cannabis retailers.
Transaction volumes spike, foot traffic surges and the pressure to run aggressive promotions intensifies.
But a growing body of point-of-sale data points to a counterintuitive conclusion: deeper discounts do not automatically mean better outcomes for retailers.
What matters far more is how strategically those discounts are deployed, and to whom.
It turns out that the week before April 20 last year outperformed the holiday itself, according to new AI-powered retail data we’ve crunched at Sweed. In fact, retailers registered nearly 60% of total 4/20-period revenue before April 20.
April 18 and April 19 produced produced 148% sales growth, the highest out of the entire 4/20 week, and it was the only period of time where average order value actually increased.
Meanwhile, on 4/20 2025, sales revenue increased just 5.5%, even as in-store traffic surged with orders up 20%. That’s as the average order value dropped 12%.
This gap suggests that aggressive discounting on the day of the holiday limited incremental revenue.
What’s the best 4/20 discounting strategy for cannabis retailers?
The conventional wisdom in cannabis retail is to save the biggest promotions for the day of 4/20.
However, the data does not support that approach.
Retail stats show that sales growth is highest and customers are spending more per transaction in the days leading up to the holiday.
That makes the run-up to 4/20 the window that deserves the most strategic attention, not just the deepest markdowns on the day everyone expects them.
The pre-420 period attracts shoppers who are planning ahead. They are not hunting for the steepest same-day deal. They are buying intentionally, and their baskets reflect that.
Not all cannabis customers are created equal
According to Sweed POS data gathered from hundreds of cannabis stores, not all customers are created equal. Some customer segments respond to discounts in very different ways.
Premium, high-value customers already spend significantly above the average basket size. And they do so consistently without needing promotional incentives.
Offering steep discounts to this group is not just unnecessary – it leaves revenue on the table.
Price-sensitive customers, on the other hand, do receive the deepest discounts on average, but they do not necessarily spend more as a result.
Retailers end up compressing their margins without generating a corresponding increase in revenue from the segment most likely to be drawn in by a promotion.
The math rarely works in the store’s favor when discounts are distributed indiscriminately.
The practical implication is that the discount strategy needs to be built around customer behavior, not calendar dates.
A 4/20 promotion should not look the same for every shopper who walks through the door. Personalized targeting, based on actual purchase history and predicted behavior, is what separates a profitable promotion from a costly one.
How cannabis retailers can structure 4/20 for maximum impact
A well-designed 4/20 promotional strategy will create urgency and variety without sacrificing margins.
- Early-bird specials reward customers who show up first and help smooth out traffic across the day.
- Flash sales create time-limited excitement for segments that are most responsive to them.
- Bundle deals increase average transaction size without requiring a straightforward price reduction on any individual item.
Threshold-based discounts are another underused tool.
When a customer knows they can unlock a benefit by spending slightly more than they planned, a portion of them will do exactly that. This approach lifts the average basket without applying a blanket discount to every transaction.
Similarly, limited-edition or exclusive products generate excitement and perceived value without requiring any markdown. Scarcity and novelty are powerful motivators that do not cost margin.
Before 4/20 arrives, operators should be pulling specific reports to inform their strategy.
Understanding which products are top sellers, which carry the highest margins, and where there are natural bundling opportunities makes a significant difference in how promotions are structured. Data-informed decisions before the event reduce the risk of stockouts on high-demand items and unnecessary markdowns on products that would have sold regardless.
The real 4/20 prize for cannabis retailers is customer retention
Most retail operators agree that acquiring a new customer costs significantly more time and money than keeping an existing one. Yet 4/20 promotions are often designed almost entirely around acquisition; draw in as many people as possible, run the biggest sale of the year, and hope some of them return.
That approach treats the holiday as an endpoint rather than an entry point.
Loyalty programs are a proven tool in this effort. According to a 2025 Sweed survey, 86% of cannabis consumers said loyalty or rewards programs motivate repeat visits. But the effectiveness of those programs depends heavily on how they are managed.
A loyalty program that simply accumulates points without any targeted communication or urgency mechanism will underperform relative to one that actively engages members at key behavioral moments.
The retailers who generate the most value from 4/20 are those who treat it as a structured revenue window, not just a single high-traffic day.
That means thinking carefully about what happens after the holiday, how to re-engage first-time buyers, how to move loyalty program members toward their next tier, and how to create the kind of experience that makes a customer want to return without needing another 20% off coupon to do so.
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A 365-day 4/20 mentality: making the holiday last all year long
4/20 will always generate foot traffic for retailers. The most successful cannabis stores will use the day to build relationships, convert first-time buyers into repeat customers and position their loyalty programs as valuable rather than an afterthought.
The operators who will thrive in the years ahead are those who bring the same level of analytical discipline to their promotions that other cannabis retail giants figured out long ago.
On 4/20, that means thinking beyond the one-day spike and building toward something that lasts.
Rocco Del Priore is the cofounder of Sweed, a comprehensive platform designed to streamline cannabis retail operations that offers point-of-sale systems, marketing and loyalty programs, payment solutions, delivery management, inventory control, eCommerce and advanced analytics.
