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May-2026
Sales
Trend
6-Month
Product Count
SKUs
Avg Price
YoY Sales Change
YoY Price Change
Market Insights Snapshot
In May 2026, Pure Essentials concentrated 78.07% of sales in Capsules with a 4.45% month-over-month lift despite a 35.24% year-over-year decline, while Tincture & Sublingual held 11.31% share with a 38.96% month-over-month drop and a 27.02% year-over-year decline. Topical expanded to 10.62% share with a 171.64% month-over-month surge and a 17.19% year-over-year increase, offsetting some of the drag from Tincture & Sublingual as overall brand sales fell 31.09% year over year and average price decreased 8.72%. The category mix implies Pure Essentials is pivoting toward formats with near-term velocity gains and lower average price points, using a $16.80 Capsule price to anchor volume while Topical becomes the incremental growth lever.
Holding rank 3 in Capsules in Illinois positions Pure Essentials to defend its core while Topical’s 171.64% month-over-month growth and 17.19% year-over-year increase suggest headroom to diversify away from a category with a 35.24% annual decline. The 38.96% month-over-month contraction in Tincture & Sublingual alongside an 8.72% brand-wide price decrease indicates price-led share capture may be less effective there than in Capsules, where a 4.45% month-over-month lift coincides with a lower $16.80 average, implying pricing elasticity is stronger in Capsules and incremental gains are more efficiently sourced by expanding Topical distribution and assortment.
Competitive Landscape
Pure Essentials is ranked #3 in IL Capsules in May 2026, unchanged from #3 year over year, with a flat 0-rank shift over the past three months and a peak position of #3 also in May 2026; in contrast, 1906 holds #1 while experiencing a -61.7% YoY sales change, and Avexia sits at #2 amid a -44.6% YoY sales decline, indicating that Pure Essentials’ stable #3 amid top-tier contractions positions it to capture share if category demand consolidates upward from incumbents.
Notable Products
CBD/THC 2:1 Body Oil (200mg CBD, 100mg THC, 15ml) delivered the standout swing in May 2026 with a +171.6% month-over-month surge to rank 5, while the top-ranked Sativa Momentum Capsules 10-Pack (100mg) slid -10.7% and still held rank 1. Relax Hybrid Chill Pill Capsule 10-Pack (100mg) climbed +49.8% to rank 4, but CBD/THC 1:1 Cherry Tincture (100mg CBD, 100mg THC, 30ml) fell -39.0% to rank 7. With eight of the top ten SKUs coming from Capsules and only one non-capsule breaking into the top five, the pattern implies Pure Essentials is leaning into capsule-led routines while selectively testing high-velocity adjunct formats like topical to diversify demand.
Top Selling Cannabis Brands
Data for this report comes from real-time sales reporting by participating cannabis retailers via their point-of-sale systems, which are linked up with Headset’s business intelligence software. Headset’s data is very reliable, as it comes digitally direct from our partner retailers. However, the potential does exist for misreporting in the instance of duplicates, incorrectly classified products, inaccurate entry of products into point-of-sale systems, or even simple human error at the point of purchase. Thus, there is a slight margin of error to consider. Brands listed on this page are ranked in the top twenty within the market and product category by total retail sales volume.
