Holiday Sales: Consumer Behavior in the US

Holiday sales can represent a major opportunity for retailers, but data shows that simply repeating promotions, hours, and strategies does not necessarily translate into higher sales. In many cases, the secret lies in knowing when the consumer plans to buy, rather than merely launching an eye-catching deal.

The analysis was published by MJBizDaily, in an article written by Stephen Gold, founder of Gold Standard Solutions, a marketing agency specializing in cannabis retailers and brands. According to the author, data from licensed stores monitored by the company shows significant differences across holidays, regions, and consumer profiles.

In this article, you will see:

• Why each holiday requires a distinct strategy;
• How location influences purchasing behavior;
• When to run early promotions;
• How to leverage point-of-sale data;
• Why discounts on the holiday itself do not always increase foot traffic;
• How to better plan holiday sales.

Holiday sales depend on local behavior

The main conclusion presented by the outlet is simple: there is no one-size-fits-all formula for holiday sales.

The holiday itself, the store's location, and consumer habits can completely alter the outcome of a campaign.

In the article, Stephen Gold states that many operators make the same mistake: they treat every holiday the same way. In practice, this means repeating deals, hours, and strategies without considering where the store is located or where customers usually head during long weekends and days off.

READ MORE: Cannabis: Retail's new secret lies in the consumer journey

This insight regarding holiday sales carries extra weight because the data used in the analysis is not based solely on opinion polls. Gold Standard Solutions tracks transactions from licensed stores through point-of-sale systems, allowing them to observe actual buying behavior.

Holiday sales: Pre-holiday promotions may perform better

One of the most telling examples occurred during the 4th of July holiday in the United States.

A neighborhood dispensary in Queens, New York, launched a "Buy 3 Get 1 Free" promotion throughout the holiday weekend.

On July 4th itself, however, sales were 23% below a typical Saturday. In other words, even with an aggressive deal, the store recorded one of its slowest days of that week.

The key insight was in the preceding days.

On the Tuesday leading up to the holiday, revenue surged by 45%. Meanwhile, the prior Thursday proved to be the best sales day of the entire promotional period.

Gold's assessment is that consumers anticipated their purchases. Instead of waiting to buy products on the holiday itself, many stocked up during the week before heading out to barbecues, gatherings, and other activities.

Another establishment in Brooklyn saw similar behavior with a tiered promotion. Sales peaked three days before the holiday and dropped below average on the holiday itself.

For planning holiday sales, the lesson is invaluable: for certain holidays, the campaign needs to start well in advance, rather than relying exclusively on foot traffic on the day of the event.

Cannabis and retail: Location dictates strategy

Another data point cited in the article illustrates why copying a campaign from one store to another can be a mistake.

At two stores located in residential neighborhoods, Memorial Day ranked among the strongest sales days of the month. In contrast, a location in Midtown Manhattan—an area characterized by office workers and tourists—recorded a 50% drop in sales over the same holiday.

The explanation lies in the customer profile.

While residents in neighborhood communities stayed local during the holiday, commuters and tourists cleared out of the traditionally bustling commercial district.

The week prior, however, the Midtown location had recorded double-digit growth. The consumer had not vanished; their purchasing behavior had simply shifted.

This distinction must also be factored into holiday sales planning. This local perspective is essential to tailoring holiday sales into a strategy that resonates with the target audience.

A store in a residential area may perform completely differently from one situated in a corporate, tourist-heavy, or transit-oriented district.

READ MORE: 8 strategies for sustainable growth in your cannabis business

How to plan holiday sales using data

According to Stephen Gold, the starting point does not need to be a massive national market report. A store's own sales history can reveal crucial patterns.

The specialist recommends exporting POS data from the previous 12 months and benchmarking each holiday against the average baseline for that specific day of the week.

In practice, this avoids skewed comparisons. For example, a holiday Saturday should be compared against the store's average Saturday performance.

Through this cross-analysis, retailers can identify:

• Which holidays drive higher traffic prior to the actual date;
• Which dates concentrate sales on the holiday itself;
• How consumer behavior varies by region;
• When it pays to concentrate marketing spend and discounts;
• When a promotion drives overall volume;
• When a deal simply lifts average order value.

This type of analysis can turn holiday sales planning from an intuitive guess into an evidence-based strategy.

And there is an important advantage: according to Gold, even small-scale operations can perform this analysis internally using their own data.

Holiday sales require anticipation

The MJBizDaily article suggests that for pre-buying holidays, peak promotional pressure should occur two to four days ahead of the date.

This strategy makes particular sense when consumers typically prepare in advance for travel, barbecues, family gatherings, or other plans.

In these cases, waiting for the holiday to arrive before offering the steepest discount can mean missing the exact window when customers are most ready to buy.

This does not mean abandoning day-of promotions entirely. The recommendation is to pivot the objective.

Instead of using the promotion to drive heavy foot traffic, retailers can leverage it to increase average basket size among consumers who have already decided to make a purchase.

For holiday sales, understanding this difference between driving volume and boosting basket value can be part of a far more effective strategy.

What cannabis retailers can do

Based on the data presented by MJBizDaily, several actionable steps can help organize seasonal campaigns and maximize holiday sales:

1. Know your neighborhood
Understand who shops at the store and how this audience behaves on days off.

2. Analyze each holiday separately
Do not assume that the behavior observed on one date will repeat on another.

3. Plan communications early
When data indicates early buying, concentrate marketing efforts on the days leading up to the holiday.

4. Distinguish foot traffic from average order value
A day-of holiday promotion can focus on increasing cart size rather than driving more foot traffic into the store.

5. Leverage your own store history
Point-of-sale data can be far more valuable for localized decisions than national averages.

Holiday sales are not a one-size-fits-all formula

The core message of the study is that cannabis retailers must focus less on the calendar date and more on the people behind the purchases.

A promotion might perform exceptionally well in one neighborhood while falling flat just a few miles away. A holiday might boost sales at a residential dispensary while clearing out a store in a corporate district.

Therefore, holiday sales should not be treated merely as a race to offer the biggest discount. For dispensary operators, holiday sales also serve as a gauge of consumer behavior.

That is where data takes on a new meaning. More than numbers on a spreadsheet, it helps tell a story: the story of when people buy, where they are, and what they do before walking through a dispensary's doors.

With Labor Day approaching and Green Wednesday on the horizon, the analysis published by MJBizDaily indicates that the most prepared retailers won't necessarily be those with the loudest promotions.

They will be the ones capable of answering simple—yet decisive—questions:

When does the customer buy?

Where are they located?

Do they tend to buy ahead of time?

Does a promotion increase foot traffic or just basket size?

These answers can help build smarter campaigns and prevent promotional spending that fails to align with the reality of each store.

Ultimately, successful holiday sales may be less about shouting promotions and more about listening to the signals revealed by your own data.

And that is perhaps the primary takeaway for the cannabis retail industry: before offering more, you need to understand better.

Sources and references

• GOLD, Stephen. How cannabis retailers can maximize holiday sales. MJBizDaily, published on August 21, 2026.
• Sales data and store case studies presented by Stephen Gold, based on point-of-sale system records from licensed retailers monitored by Gold Standard Solutions.