Green Bits has studied the 2016 recreational cannabis sales patterns and has found that overall, sales are up – while sales of other leisure consumables, including McDonald’s and Starbucks, are down.

Some notable 2016 recreational cannabis sales patterns show additional data that leads to the conclusion that recreational cannabis sales are on the rise throughout the nation. Sales are at their strongest between July and the end of September, although summer isn’t the only period with strong sales. In fact, three out of the four days that saw the biggest amount of cannabis sold were Fridays before major holidays, such as the 4th of July, Labor Day, and Christmas. Four out of the six biggest sales days were the last weekday in the run up to a holiday weekend, including the aforementioned holidays and Thanksgiving. The boost in sales associated with holiday weekends is a massive 75%, when compared to median sales for that typical day of the week.

Of course the most iconic day of the year, April 20th (4/20), is a big day for sales, it was not actually the biggest sales day for recreational cannabis sales. The date was only the third largest grossing sales day of 2016. Most recreational cannabis purchases are made on a Friday, leading to 25 of the 30 top sales days for 2016 being on a Friday. If national holidays are ignored (Christmas, the 4th of July, and Thanksgiving all saw low sales last year), then 14 of the 15 slowest sales days for 2016 were in the month of January. This raises the question of whether people are deliberately focused on ‘clean living’ during that month. By contrast, the end of the year is a bust time for cannabis retailers selling recreational products. During the last three months of the year, same store sales for cannabis at recreational retailers increased by 26 percent. Meanwhile, same store sales at US branches of McDonalds fell by one percent (according to data published by McDonald’s). In addition, US related Starbucks same store sales fell by three percent.

“This data shows that recreational cannabis sales appear to be steadily increasing, and that there is a strong potential for growth as more states approve the use of recreational marijuana,” a Green Bits manager noted. “More and more people are turning to recreational cannabis, instead of using other products – even eschewing alcohol, fast food and caffeine, but appreciating the potentially beneficial effects of cannabis.” Green Bits is a retail management platform for cannabis stores.