What’s being developed and a message for Retailers & Producers
My conversation with Eric continued as I kept digging into the core of Cannametrics to unveil its existence: who is it really supporting – and why? It really comes down to two essential groups within the cannabis industry ecosystem that it serves: Retailers and Producers. Eric shows me the why’s and how’s Cannametrics Producer Connect is here to help what he calls “The Holy Trinity”.
What is currently being developed that excites you the most? And what is the solution that you’re proposing to Producers and Retailers? This is a bit of a two part question.
Well, let me start the second part first. The solution that I’m proposing to Retailers, Producers, and customers is a combination of what I believe is the “Holy Trinity” of cannabis related data.
Right now, we’re collecting product data. We’re about to launch into collecting Retail data. And then we’ll combine that with consumer data – all of a sudden we’ll have our first holistic look at the cannabis marketplace. I think what’s super important to remember is that right now we have little insight into the motivations, goals, and life-world of the consumer. What are they buying and why? What are they trying to achieve? Are they achieving it? You can’t get this from retail sales data alone. You can’t get it from production data. But it all plays a part in telling that story of “what is cannabis actually doing for people and their lives”?
So how are we going to get there? We started off with our Producer Connect platform – connecting Producers and Retailers, so that Retailers have, for the first time, access to the comprehensive information they need.
However, we have realized that this is not enough to provide people with access to information. We have to help them use this information in a useful way in their day-to-day lives. So now that they have it, what can they do with it?
We’re putting specific, detailed product knowledge in the hands of Budtenders so that they can truly connect with their customers in a way that allows them to understand products and have a deep knowledge. And this acknowledges that it is impossible for anyone to memorize cannabinoid and terpene mixes of everything they sell – nobody can do that. But what you can do is learn which cannabinoids and terpenes are good for which use cases and then have access to that information.
And that is Cannametrics Budtender. We’re going to put detailed product knowledge in the hands of Budtenders as well as education to help them make the most out of that information. What are the cannabinoids and terpenes, what do they do, how do we talk meaningfully to our customers about that.
From there, we’re going to collect feedback from the Budtenders. What insights can we gather from talking to consumers? What do these insights tell us about these products, about their needs and goals, what is working to connect the customer with the product, and who is that customer specifically? This is critical demographic and psychographic information that will help us understand how we’re truly connecting the dots on the sales floor.
Then the next piece of that is putting technology into the customer’s hands to be able to record their experiences, benefit from those insights and feed that back so that Producers can know what effects their products are having on people. So Retailers can know and answer, with an evidence basis, how to connect the right people with the right products? If you are a certain type of person looking to have a specific experience, what’s most likely to work for you? By combining those three data sources, we begin to have a true look at who is buying what for which purposes. Who is being successful and how can we tailor our inventory to serve our community better? How can we create products to help people better?
What do you want Retailers to know about Cannametrics?
I want them to know that we are building the solution that they have been asking us for and that we are making leaps and bounds in our ability to provide them with information and tools. That we are absolutely on the verge of the next level of usefulness and functionality.
Retailers unequivocally asked us to give them access to the detailed cannabinoid and terpene data, to the COA data. So we did it. We built this platform for them. Retailers told us they needed better education for their staff. So we built out an evidence based content stream for them.
Now, Retailers are telling us that they want to put detailed product knowledge in the hands of their budtenders. So that’s coming. They’ve told us that they want to have insights about their particular inventory that are automatically generated through integrations. That is coming very soon. They’ve told us that they are interested in having additional insights to compare the products that are available to them on the market and that is coming as well.
I think we’re just getting started. We’ve gathered a tremendous amount of information and data thus far and now we’re starting to be able to deploy this in really exciting new ways.
What do you want Producers to know about Cannametrics?
I want Producers to know what I’ve seen from the beginning — and that
is that Retailers have screamed from the rooftops “transparency,
transparency, TRANSPARENCY!” is so important for them, their staff, and
their customers. Now I’m starting to hear from even the largest
Producers this really keen interest in being transparent, in leading the
way, and not being left behind. This is becoming a true and present
reality for Producers and that is: transparency is no longer a request,
it’s a requirement.
I want them to know that we are here to help them drive that initiative and we are so excited for our current partners who are making waves in the community through being truly transparent and that we are here to help the rest make this transition quickly, easily, and efficiently. It’s a movement that’s not going away.
