Female Cannabis Consumers Are Driving Headshop Growth

The cannabis market is an inevitably changing industry with an unfathomable amount of potential. With only a limited number of states with recreational legalization to date, a vast portion of the cannabis market is still untouched. Even with the small legalized market available in the United States, cannabis sales are on a constant increase. While over half of the nation has some sort of marijuana reform, full legalization is where the real potential lies. The uniqueness of the cannabis industry is the fact that as the market grows internally, external or ancillary markets begin to thrive.

The headshop sector, in particular, is seeing a significant boom as marijuana legalization continues to spread. Why is that? It’s all thanks to the non-traditional consumers becoming curious about the market. Between the heightening number of female consumers and the popularity of cannabis concentrates, headshops are drastically broadening their consumer pools in the marijuana marketplace.

The Marijuana Consumer Pool Today

DOPE BOO vapes

Since the marijuana industry is relatively fresh to our society, the full range of its consumer pool is still unknown. There are a multitude of different consumers beginning to enter the market. From the experienced baby boomer consumer to the curious non-traditional cannabis consumer, the marijuana market is continuously adapting. Even gender equality among cannabis consumers is quickly becoming a reality. While men were originally the primary consumers, women and cannabis are the driving force behind organic growth of both dispensaries and headshops.

Growth of Women in the Cannabis Marketplace:

  • 2015: Women made up 25% of the market.
  • 2016: Women made up 33% of the market.
  • 2017: Women made up 35% of the market.
  • 2018: Women made up 38% of the market.

The figures above only show the growth of women entering the marijuana marketplace. In regard to the boom in the headshop sector, women and cannabis are playing a significant role. One of the leading headshops in the industry, DopeBoo, recently calculated two years of consumer data to get a better insight into how the cannabis industry is affecting the headshop market trends.

The Passion and Integrity Behind DopeBoo

DOPE BOO boo and rig

DopeBoo is one of the world’s best online headshops based in the great city of Chicago. With a stellar team of herb lovers and their famous bulldog mascot, Boo, DopeBoo cultivated a new standard for headshops. Not only is DopeBoo a globally ranked online headshop, but its platform is widely recognized amongst leaders in the cannabis industry. Their online headshop has a wide variety of pipes ? from bongs to bubblers to novelty pipes ? and tons of vaporizers, smoking accessories, and utensils. DopeBoo keeps it kind, simple, and most importantly: they keep it real!

DopeBoo’s Consumer Data Results

DOPE BOO holding piece

DopeBoo takes its role in the marijuana industry to heart, and they do everything they can to stay ahead of the ever-changing cannabis market. Doing so not only enhances their online headshop but develops a unique approach to consumer access for the future of the industry. DopeBoo’s insights regarding consumer data come from two years of analytics and give a keen look into the changes in consumer demographics and trends in headshops.

  • In 2017, female buyers accounted for only 32% of customers.
  • In 2019, female buyers account for a whopping 46% of customers.
  • Female cannabis users, ages 18-25, rose from 12.2% in 2007 to 19.2% in 2017.
  • From 2007 to 2017, female cannabis users increased a total of 59%.
  • From 2015 to 2017, monthly cannabis use by male consumers rose only 6%, while monthly cannabis use by women rose 19%.

Not only are women and cannabis becoming an industry trend, but women are beginning to take on a majority of the headshop consumer pools. Why is this the case? There many factors at play to explain this shift in the market. The rise of cannabis concentrates, and discreet methods of consumption are the primary factors of this change.

  • In 2014, cannabis concentrates only represented 10% of sales.
  • In 2017, cannabis concentrates represented nearly 27% of sales.
  • Since 2017, cannabis concentrate sales rose nearly 200%.

As cannabis concentrate sales increase, so do the sales of portable vaporizers, desktop vaporizers, and vape pens. With the rise of both female consumers and cannabis concentrates in the market, headshops are seeing a significant correlation with their consumer data. Women are purchasing more concentrates, which means women are also buying more vaporizers for consumption. Of the vaporizers sold over the past two years, DopeBoo broke down the numbers to see what types of vaporizers women are purchasing in headshops.

  • Of the vaporizer sales to women over the past two years, 12.2% were desktop vaporizer purchases.
  • Of the vaporizer sales to women over the past two years, 25.9% were portable vaporizer purchases.
  • Of the vaporizer sales to women over the past two years, 61.6% were vaporizer pen purchases.

With more women purchasing vaporizers, it is only logical to assume more women are purchasing cannabis concentrates. Again, there are other reasons for these new consumer trends. Women are more likely to make purchases online and tend to focus on the product education, safety of consumption, and the health and wellness factors of the product. Vaporizing is a discreet, effective, and considered to be a safer method of cannabis consumption. Due to the social influence in the marijuana industry increasing with legalization, women are obtaining real-time input on modern-day technology and products more than the average male.

Conclusion to the Consumer Results of Women and Cannabis

woman posing with cannabis leaf

It is remarkable to see just how quickly the gender split between cannabis consumers is balancing. Women are potentially the next top marijuana consumer in the market, and it is time marijuana businesses prospect accordingly. While there is a need for more consumer data, DopeBoo brought some major findings to the table. As the legalization of cannabis continues to spread and federal reform inches near, it will be exciting to see just how much the marijuana marketplace diversifies.

DopeBoo is a proud partner of Leafbuyer.

Author: Justice Council

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