Retail’s busiest month of the year is right around the corner – and for cannabis dispensaries, it’s time to start prepping to make the most of the December sales rush. Between gift-giving, self-care purchases, and seasonal celebration, the average dispensary sees noticeable spikes in both traffic and basket size during the holidays. In fact, industry data show an average December uptick of roughly 10-20% over preceding months, with December 23rd routinely among the top cannabis sales days of the entire year. You want to be fully stocked and ready to serve shoppers who are looking to celebrate the holidays and ring in the new year on a high note.
As a dispensary owner, planning ahead for this surge – and aligning your cannabis holiday marketing, promotions, and inventory – can turn December into your best month ever. In this cannabis holiday marketing and sales guide, you’ll find tactical advice on marketing strategy, sales optimization, and inventory management to help you capitalize on what’s coming.
Why December Is Prime Time for Cannabis Retailers
The holiday season triggers cyclical buying behaviors that cannabis retailers can capitalize on. Customers are shopping for gifts for friends and loved ones, indulging in self-care routines, and treating themselves in celebration of year-end holidays.
According to cannabis industry sources including Headset and LeafLink, flower sales in the week leading up to Christmas have risen about 17% compared to average weeks over the last couple of years, while edible sales have increased roughly 13-15% over regular weekly averages. Vapes and cartridges have seen a similar holiday sales boost in the 10-15% range; concentrates typically experience a smaller yet still positive holiday week increase, often between 7-12%. Even smaller product categories like topicals and beverages have seen sharp jumps in the 15-20% range during the final full week before Christmas. What’s more, the number of daily baskets per store have seen lifts as high as 29% that week.
With more consumers shopping for others, you’ll see more gift purchases that might prioritize novelty, packaging, or higher margin SKUs. Online cannabis sales also see an uplift around the holidays as busy consumers seek convenience – which means your eCommerce readiness matters, too.
Top-Selling Products and Gift Trends
Understanding what your customers are buying around the holidays sets the stage for smart stocking and merchandising. Here are the top selling cannabis products during the holiday season you should focus on:
Flower
The data don’t lie: Flower is the undisputed top-selling cannabis product category. In December 2024, flower accounted for more than 40% of total retail sales in the U.S. while bringing in more than $87 million for Canadian retailers, according to Cova’s internal data. To make the most of the December bump, bundle flower with edibles or accessories to make holiday sampler packs and gift boxes.
Edibles
Edibles see one of the strongest seasonal lifts and account for roughly 13% of all December dispensary sales. Customers love gummies and chocolates as both gifts and personal indulgences; consider bundles or gift boxes like “gummies plus pre-roll” to encourage multiple-item purchases.
Vapes and Pens
Easy to gift, portable, and discreet, vape cartridges and pens appeal to regular users and gift-buyers alike – and they make great stocking stuffers, too. Given this category skews toward a younger demographic, think about themed promotions like flavor bundles or holiday packaging to boost visibility and drive revenue.
Accessories & Bundles
Alongside the consumables, leverage gift-friendly accessories like rolling trays, papers, and branded lighters to drive add-on sales and boost basket size.
CBD & Wellness Items
For the wellness crowd and gift shoppers, promote your CBD products with “Year-End Reset” or “New Year Calm” themed bundles.
Tune your SKU selection accordingly in the weeks leading up to December, and use your POS analytics to track what’s gaining traction early in the month.
Inventory and Merchandising Strategies
To capitalize on the holiday rush, your dispensary inventory and merchandising must be ready. Use last year’s data as your baseline and forecast early; for example, if your weekly unit sales surged by 20% in past Decembers, plan for at least that same uplift and adjust your safety stock accordingly.
Visual Merchandising & Themed Displays
Try converting your dispensary space into a holiday experience. You could achieve this by creating holiday displays, value picks, festive bundles, and even a gift wall with themed signage and lighting. Prominent placement near registers increases impulse buys – especially on high-traffic days like weekends.
Bundle vs. Single SKU Stock-Out Risk
Data suggest that bundled SKUs reduce stock-out risk because they stabilize inventory velocity across multiple items. By offering holiday bundles of at least three items, you both increase basket size and reduce the chance of running out of your best-selling SKU. Monitor your stock-out rate early in December and shift reorder focus accordingly.
Forecast Early and Reorder Smartly
Start your holiday planning in November. Identify your top 20 SKUs from previous Decembers and ensure adequate supply of components for bundles, including edibles, vapes, and accessories. Pull early cycle counts and compare velocity to non-holiday weeks. If your top-selling SKUs turned over twice as fast last year, make sure your inventory alert thresholds are set to reflect that.
High-Impact Promotions and Campaigns
Holiday promotions should be timely, memorable, and most importantly, compliant with all cannabis marketing rules and regulations. Here are some strategies worth implementing:
- 12 Days of Deals: Launch a countdown promo from December 12 to Christmas Eve with rotating daily deals on different categories.
- Gift Cards & Pre-Paid Bundles: Offer gift cards or pre-paid bundles early (November/early December) to capture early shoppers.
- Loyalty Bonus / Reward Multiplier: Run a “double points” or “holiday bonus” promotion for loyalty members on purchases of bundle items.
- Themed Email & SMS Campaigns: Use subject lines like “Unwrap Joy - Holiday Bundles Inside” and send out last-minute promotions on December 23rd and 24th to get in front of last-minute shoppers.
- Flash Deals & Bundle Upgrades: Something like “buy a vape + accessory, get a free travel tin” promo that’s good for 48 hours only can drive urgency and lift average order value.
These kinds of promotions don’t just drive revenue – they create excitement, value perception, and repeat visits.
Holiday Marketing & Social Media Strategy
When it comes to cannabis holiday marketing, it’s not just about throwing up a few snowflakes on your website. A successful campaign blends compliant messaging, smart visuals, and authentic engagement across social media platforms like Instagram, Meta, and even TikTok – if you know how to play by the rules.
Make the Most of Social Media (Without Getting Flagged)
While platforms like Meta and TikTok don’t allow direct cannabis promotions, you can still run compelling cannabis holiday ads using lifestyle content. Focus on cozy, festive visuals that promote holiday bundles, winter wellness gifts, or stocking stuffers without making explicit product claims. Highlight the shopping experience and the gift potential rather than what’s inside the package.
This kind of creative social media marketing approach is key to staying compliant while reaching customers who are actively looking for unique cannabis gifts online during the holiday season.
Partner with Influencers and Build Gift Guides
Want to stand out in crowded social feeds? Collaborate with local wellness influencers to showcase your store’s cannabis gift kits as premium lifestyle picks. Ask them to feature your bundles in their “top holiday picks” roundups, complete with unboxing videos or festive reels. It’s a subtle but powerful way to build brand awareness and trust, especially among first-time or gift-focused buyers.
Gift guides also work well as blog or email content. Highlight everything from premium pre-rolls and edibles to CBD bath bombs and accessories to position your dispensary as a go-to holiday shopping destination.
Use Festive Packaging and Limited-Time Drops
Limited-edition products wrapped in seasonal packaging are proven to drive urgency and holiday sales. Red-and-gold pre-roll packs, peppermint-flavored edibles, or exclusive bundles labeled “Only 50 Boxes Available” add a sense of exclusivity that gets people buying now rather than later.
Promote these seasonal specials through your email list, SMS, and social media to create buzz and drive both in-store and online cannabis holiday sales.
Track Engagement and What Works
Even small marketing shifts can have a big impact in December. According to BDSA, dispensaries see a 29% lift in daily baskets during the holiday week, even when discount levels stay the same. That’s because customers are buying for more people and shopping more often.
This is your chance to spotlight variety, ease of shopping, and convenience. Focus your holiday marketing strategy on making your store the simplest, most enjoyable place to shop – whether customers walk in or order online.
Train Staff to Maximize Holiday Sales
Marketing gets them in the door, but your staff makes the sale. When it comes to cannabis dispensary promotions for the holidays, your team is one of your most important sales tools – and they need to be prepped for peak performance.
Upselling Without the Pressure
December isn’t the time for hard-selling, but it is the time to suggest helpful additions. Train budtenders with friendly scripts like:
- “A lot of folks buying this gummy also grab our Holiday Travel Tin – want me to add that to your order?”
- “This pre-roll bundle is our top seller for gifts. Want to check it out while you’re here?”
The goal is to increase basket sizes naturally by helping customers find what they didn’t know they needed.
Incentivize Gift Bundle Sales
Create a little friendly competition with rewards for top bundle sellers. Offer a bonus, commission, or points when employees move bundled holiday sets versus single items. Then celebrate those wins in your team huddles or shift wrap-ups; it keeps energy high during long December days.
Prepare for the Rush
Weekends in December will be packed. Run role-playing sessions that simulate real checkout scenarios. Teach your staff how to quickly locate bundles, scan IDs smoothly, and suggest a final add-on at the point of sale. Every second saved per customer adds up when foot traffic spikes – and smoother experiences lead to more return visits in January.
By focusing on upselling, gift-giving advice, and speed, you’re putting practical cannabis holiday sales strategies into action where they matter most: on the floor.
After the Holidays: Review and Optimize
Once the decorations come down and the rush slows, it’s time to look at what worked and what didn’t. The best cannabis holiday marketing strategies don’t stop in December; they evolve based on real data.
Dig Into the Numbers
Here are some of the most important dispensary KPIs to review post-holiday:
- Best-selling products: Which SKUs dominated your December cannabis holiday sales?
- Bundle performance: What was the average order value on bundles compared to individual items?
- Repeat customers: How many holiday shoppers came back in January?
- Promotion ROI: Which campaigns or ads had the best return? Which fell flat?
This is where your POS system is critical. A good cannabis POS puts all the data at your fingertips so you can analyze product performance, campaign ROI, and staffing efficiency. You can then use these insights to fine-tune your strategy for 2026 by adjusting inventory plans, launching holiday marketing campaigns earlier, and doubling down on what drove real results this year.
December is one of the most important months of the year for cannabis retail. With the right mix of preparation, strategy, and execution, your dispensary can turn holiday traffic into long-term growth. From building better bundles to training your staff, designing festive displays, and running compliant holiday campaigns, everything starts with the right tools. Cova POS is built for cannabis retailers who want to make the most of the holiday season by tracking inventory in real time, running promotions across multiple channels, and getting crystal-clear reporting on what’s working – all from one platform.
If you’re ready to see what Cova can do for you and your dispensary this holiday season and beyond, book a demo right here today.