Washington Retail Market: Two Years of Expansion, Correction, and Renewal (Dec 2021–Dec 2023)
Two Years In, Washington’s Cannabis Retail Market Finds Its Footing
Cannabis
CCRS
Revenue
Discount
Licensees
The Bottom Line Up Front
The data revealed an industry transitioning out of its onboarding phase into a steady operational rhythm. 2022’s surge captured the “great normalization” of CCRS retail data; 2023 represents the first full year of true trend comparability, where growth rates slowed but reliability improved.
As of December 2023, Washington’s cannabis retail sector appears stable, data-rich, and increasingly efficient — a sign that the Evergreen State’s open-data framework is now supporting genuine market intelligence for both regulators and the industry itself.
Overview
Between December 2021 and December 2023, Washington’s cannabis retail landscape evolved from a fragmented set of early CCRS participants into a broad, maturing network of consistently reporting licensees. Using CCRS sales data integrated through DuckDB, The Evergreen Canna Ledger tracked monthly and quarterly changes in revenue, participation, and discounting behavior across two years of industry data.
What emerges is a story of early growth, mid-cycle correction, and late-stage stabilization—a pattern consistent with normalization in new regulatory markets.
Monthly Licensees Reporting Writing
Participation and Growth
In December 2021, only 8 licensees were actively reporting, generating roughly $2.7 million in sales. By December 2022, participation surged to 51 active licensees, moving over $16.5 million in monthly retail volume—an increase of more than 500% in reported revenue and sixfold growth in participation.
The first half of 2023, however, saw a contraction in both revenue and reporting, as several smaller or seasonal operators dropped from the dataset. From January to March 2023, licensee counts fell from 31 to 13, while monthly revenue dropped by nearly half—from $6.7 million to $3.3 million.
This retrenchment was followed by steady re-entry: by late 2023, the active licensee count recovered to 39, suggesting renewed reporting consistency and stronger compliance coverage.
Quarterly Revenue & Discount Trends Revenue by Quarter
Discount % by Quarter
Year-over-Year & Month-over-Month % Change in Revenue
YoY Revenue Change
MoM Revenue Change
Notably, while total revenue peaked in late 2022, the 2023 rebound suggests the market has stabilized around a sustainable revenue band of $15–20 million per quarter, with more balanced pricing strategies and consistent consumer demand.
Scatter Plot: Revenue vs. Discount %
Discounting Behavior
Discount trends provide insight into how retailers managed price pressure through this adjustment period.
Early 2022: Discounts fluctuated wildly—from −2% in January to 21% in February—indicating experimental pricing and data entry inconsistencies as CCRS reporting expanded.
Late 2022: Discounts tightened to near zero, reflecting confident retail margins and strong demand.
2023: Average markdowns hovered between 1–6%, suggesting more strategic, seasonal discounting rather than widespread price compression.
This steadier pricing approach aligns with the maturing competitive environment—where differentiation is increasingly driven by product category mix and brand identity rather than blunt price cuts.
Summary Table – Monthly CCRS Data
| Month | Licensees | Revenue | Avg. Discount % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-12-01 | 10 | $4,552,663 | 1.8% |
| 2022-01-01 | 16 | $10,281,471 | -1.1% |
| 2022-02-01 | 9 | $4,052,783 | 18.8% |
| 2022-03-01 | 17 | $5,092,339 | 3.0% |
| 2022-04-01 | 16 | $2,559,748 | 6.2% |
| 2022-05-01 | 20 | $5,246,710 | 2.3% |
| 2022-06-01 | 19 | $5,399,244 | 2.0% |
| 2022-07-01 | 21 | $11,398,655 | 1.3% |
| 2022-08-01 | 26 | $10,443,103 | 1.7% |
| 2022-09-01 | 28 | $20,019,073 | 0.8% |
| 2022-10-01 | 27 | $28,318,845 | -0.2% |
| 2022-11-01 | 37 | $30,144,273 | -0.8% |
| 2022-12-01 | 53 | $36,309,771 | 0.4% |
| 2023-01-01 | 35 | $10,799,814 | -1.6% |
| 2023-02-01 | 16 | $4,302,702 | 2.1% |
| 2023-03-01 | 15 | $3,688,099 | 2.8% |
| 2023-04-01 | 17 | $5,522,015 | 1.1% |
| 2023-05-01 | 24 | $4,928,302 | 6.0% |
| 2023-06-01 | 23 | $6,552,553 | 1.9% |
| 2023-07-01 | 23 | $6,693,172 | 1.5% |
| 2023-08-01 | 27 | $6,701,228 | 1.6% |
| 2023-09-01 | 28 | $5,741,566 | 4.6% |
| 2023-10-01 | 25 | $5,374,887 | 6.5% |
| 2023-11-01 | 37 | $11,410,613 | 2.8% |
| 2023-12-01 | 41 | $6,228,047 | 6.2% |
Revenue Dynamics Summary Table
At the quarterly level, total retail sales moved through three distinct cycles:
| Quarter | Total Revenue | Avg. Discount % | Phase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 2022 | $11.9M | 8.3% | Market onboarding |
| Q3 2022 | $20.9M | 2.3% | Expansion & normalization |
| Q4 2022 | $42.7M | −0.6% | Peak retail activity |
| Q1 2023 | $13.9M | 0.7% | Correction |
| Q3 2023 | $18.4M | 2.5% | Recovery |
| Q4 2023 | $19.1M | 5.4% | Holiday resurgence |
Year-over-Year Context
When compared to the prior year: + April 2023 saw revenue up 247% YoY — a direct reflection of improved compliance reporting and seasonal 4/20 demand.
Mid-2023 months held relatively stable YoY growth between +80% and +125%, while
Late 2023 (September–December) showed lower YoY figures, between −35% and −65%, signaling a normalization effect after the reporting surge of late 2022.