Cannabis Business Times: How to Reach New Customers With Seasonal Product Offerings

Curiosity may have been game over for the cat, but it’s game on for the cannabis consumer.

In an increasingly competitive market, driving consumer interest in new or seasonal products comes from various approaches and marketing maneuvers, including timely offerings that help keep things fresh and alluring.

With the autumn equinox upon the cannabis industry, introducing new flavors for infused beverages, finding the right menu placement for pumpkin-spiced edibles, or hyping up that new product drop on Green Wednesday (the day before Thanksgiving) could draw in new customers or give experienced shoppers a reason to crossover to new market segments.

Winstanley (Theory Wellness): Seasonality affects most product categories, but the most substantial impact comes with the edibles category. Edibles can provide more flexibility in the taste profiles and have the most overlap with traditional CPG products that follow seasonal lines. We do our best to look at past sales trends and general market interest for seasonal SKU rationalization. This includes reviewing past “seasonal” campaigns to garner insights and how we message. For instance, we launched two seasonal Hi5 Seltzers this summer to align with social behaviors. We debuted a limited run of a spring seasonal Strawberry Margarita seltzer to coincide with Cinco de Mayo and a summer seasonal Blueberry Lemonade to coincide with the 4th of July. Both became the top-selling SKU in the market, and we had very positive consumer feedback. To launch these, we run some level of pre-heat and give our top buyers a glimpse before the general market is notified. It’s a way to show support to those who are loyal before bringing it into the public arena.