The Canada Cannabis Spot Index was assessed at C$5.15 per gram this week, down -1.3% from last week’s C$5.22 per gram. This week’s price equates to US$1,870 per pound at the current exchange rate.
Each week, Business of Cannabis delivers a series of insights from our partners at Cannabis Benchmarks®.
This week, Cannabis Benchmarks reviews Canada’s recreational cannabis store count. They have been tracking this number very closely because there has been a very strong correlation between stores and sales. The number of stores continues to climb steadily across the country, making the legal cannabis system more accessible to consumers and, in some cases, increasing competition between retailers in more saturated local markets.Â
Cannabis Benchmarks’ latest count shows the number of stores open for business reached 3,138 as of the end of March. That figure is up by 1,344 stores – or a jump of 75% – compared to March 2021. As shown in the chart above, they expect that trend to continue throughout this year but at a slightly slower rate, a change that is already playing out. During Q1 2022, an average of 74 new stores opened each month, which is much lower than the 127 stores added monthly during the same quarter in 2021.
As noted a few months back, one province that sticks out is Alberta. Cannabis Benchmarks have long been awaiting a slowdown in the number of stores added each month, but Alberta’s store count continues to grow at a steady rate. The current count is 757 stores, which is 155 more than last March. The situation is already ultra-competitive amongst Alberta cannabis retailers, but it is expected to become even more so with the passing of Bill 80 in December. That measure allowed licensed retailers to set up their own e-commerce platforms starting on March 8, 2022. At the moment only the major retail chains have established an online presence, but over time almost every store should have a simple, Shopify-type site to fulfill online orders.
They expect this change will lead to lower cannabis prices for customers, as the larger, more efficient retailers flex their pricing muscle. They also believe this trend will eventually lead to a flattening store count, as new store openings are offset by the closing of unprofitable ones.
Source: Canada Cannabis Spot Index, Cannabis Benchmarks
See previous weekly updates from Cannabis Benchmarks:
- Flattening cannabis sales part of a common trend?
- Cannabis sales and store insights from BC
- Cannabis store count in Alberta right now
- A look at monthly cannabis sales in Canada
- How to compare annual cumulative cannabis sales in Canada
- Canadian cannabis consumer and patient trends right now
- Daily cannabis spend per consumer in BC now
- Canadian retail store counts right now
- A look at average daily cannabis sales in Canada
- Future growth of cannabis retail in Alberta
- Retail store counts in Canada right now
- The mix of cannabis products in Ontario right now
- How to understand legal and illicit cannabis sales
- Comparing legal and illicit cannabis purchases right now
- A look at cannabis retail store counts in Canada
- A look at daily cannabis retail sales in Canada
- Legacy and legal cannabis sales three years after legalization?
- How to understand cannabis’ impact on alcohol sales in Canada
- Understanding cannabis retail store growth in Canada
- A look at average monthly spend per cannabis consumer
- A look at processing licenses issued by Health Canada
- A look at cultivation licenses issued by Health Canada
- Understanding medical versus recreational sales right now
- A look at daily cannabis sales by Province
- How to view dry cannabis sales across Canada
- A look at percentage of legal versus illicit cannabis sales
- A look at the pace of growth for cannabis retail
- A look at monthly cannabis sales in Ontario
- What is the optimal number of cannabis stores in Canada?
- How to compare daily cannabis retail sales by Province
- Understanding the impact of cannabis on alcohol sales in Canada
- A look at cannabis retail store count by Province
- A look at cannabis user statistics in Canada
