Green Wednesday, Thanksgiving, Black Friday—welcome to the Super Bowl of dispensary retail. If you’re cannabis retailer, this stretch of the calendar is your prime-time moment to shine. And while our industry is maturing fast, there’s still a massive opportunity to level up by borrowing a few pages from the Fortune 100 playbook. Earlier this month we published a blog discussing how dispensaries can position themselves better for retail holidays.
Every year, giants like Target, Walmart, and Amazon spend millions perfecting the art of seasonal merchandising. Their homepages become full-blown sales events: immersive, seasonal, unmistakably “of the moment.” The question is… are cannabis brands keeping up?
I spent my Green Wednesday diving into the homepages of top retailers—both mainstream and cannabis—to compare how they approach Black Friday and holiday seasonality. The results? Some inspiring moves… and some missed opportunities.
Let’s break it down.
Target: The Gold Standard for Seasonal Selling
Target didn’t just lean into Black Friday—they built the homepage around it like it’s a national holiday (which, let’s be honest, it basically is).
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Full blackout theme: icons, banners, and product cards all transformed to match the Black Friday aesthetic.
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Clear seasonal messaging: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and winter holiday energy everywhere.
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Commerce media placement: custom ad inventory tailored to the season.
Target fully commits. Their homepage feels like Black Friday the second it loads. They’ve mastered an immersive “seasonal environment,” and they do it consistently year after year.
If cannabis retailers did even 20% of this, conversion rates would pop like a jar of infused holiday gummies.
Walmart: Seasonal, but Softer
Walmart is usually rock-solid, but this year they took a lighter approach.
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Black Friday deals are present, but not nearly as dominant.
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Seasonal imagery exists… kind of. A few holiday hints, some fall colors, but nothing all-in.
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Thematically, it feels like “Walmart as usual,” with a light dusting of Black Friday on top.
Still effective—just not the immersive takeover that Target pulls off.
Amazon: “Orange Is the New Black”
Amazon always runs deal-heavy layouts, but this year they went with a bold twist:
Black Friday, but… orange?
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Huge “Black Friday” sections styled in bright orange.
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Deal headers, landing pages, and banners all branded consistently.
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Seasonal energy is present, but Amazon relies more on layout than theme-color immersion.
Whatever your color palette opinion, they committed to it—and it’s unmistakably “event mode.”
Cannabis Retailers: Who’s Crushing It (and Who’s… not)
Curaleaf
Curaleaf shows hints of seasonality—good colors, winter warmth, and some top-of-page promos. But aside from a few holiday touches, the homepage looks mostly unchanged.
A better effort than years past, but nowhere near what the Fortune 100s are doing.
Rise (GTI) — The Standout
Rise consistently earns high marks, and this year they didn’t miss.
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Green Wednesday front and center
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Thanksgiving messaging throughout
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Seasonally themed banners and visuals
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A homepage that feels like the holiday shopping season
They nailed the mix of deal-forward merchandising and seasonal storytelling. Rise continues to be the MSO that “gets it.”
Trulieve
Trulieve lands in the “solid but not spectacular” category.
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Green Wednesday messaging is upfront.
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Black Friday and Thanksgiving callouts are there.
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A “Season of Saving” section adds a nice holiday touch.
There’s effort here—and it shows—but the homepage experience still feels more like “Trulieve with some holiday decorations” than a genuine seasonal takeover.
Sunnyside
Sunnyside is usually strong, and this year was no exception.
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Green Wednesday and deep-discount deals are right up front.
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Holiday lines like “Taste the Terps of the Season” show clever theming.
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Seasonal collections and giftable categories make it easier for shoppers to browse.
Not quite Target-level immersion, but definitely well executed.
Beyond / Jushi (Beyond Hello)
Consistently consistent… and consistently not seasonal.
Beyond Hello’s homepage appears largely unchanged for one of the biggest cannabis retail weeks of the year. No major holiday elements, no Black Friday narrative, no seasonal merchandising strategy.
Is it functional? Sure.
Is it maximizing the biggest sales moment of the year? Absolutely not.
The Harsh but Helpful Truth
Some cannabis MSOs are starting to follow the lead of the major retailers. They’re getting better with:
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seasonal messaging
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holiday deal positioning
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homepage merchandising
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consumer journey alignment
But nobody—and I mean nobody—is playing at Target’s level. And they don’t have to. But every dispensary in the U.S. could drastically increase conversions simply by embracing seasonal selling more aggressively.
So… What Did Your Website Look Like This Year?
Your homepage is your storefront window.
Your seasonal merchandising is your retail heartbeat.
And your willingness to evolve is what keeps customers coming back. Did you catch my last video about how MSO’s and Fortune 100 Retailers differ? If not check it out here (Just a Menu)!
The cannabis consumer is no different from the Target shopper—they respond to story, emotion, and timing. When retailers embrace seasonality, the result is simple: more carts, more conversions, more loyalty.
If you want your dispensary homepage to look like a Fortune 100 operation—and perform like one—RRH can help you build it.
Black Friday may be fading…
But the next seasonal moment is already around the corner. The question is: Will you be ready?