By: Jim Roddy, President & CEO at the RSPA
“I’m not doing a very good job explaining this right now because I’m high.”
A software rep confessed that to me during his meandering product demo at MJBizCon 2024, the world’s largest cannabis trade show held Dec. 3-6 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Add that moment to the list of my head-scratching experiences at MJBiz – but it’s actually not the most confounding aspect of this year’s show.
What has me and several channel executive attendees I talked with most flummoxed is the lack of retail IT attention at the event. Of the 1,400+ booths, only three or four dozen appeared to be retail tech-based. RSPA members were represented by Paybotic, Star Micronics, PLS, POSRG, Spartan POS/Biztracker, and Outlaw Technology plus a few hardware vendors who sent reps to staff partner booths.
A few non-member payments providers, cannabis ISVs, and security camera vendors exhibited, but tech was still totally overwhelmed by machinery, products, and services related to grow operations, packaging, vape supplies, and promotional apparel.
For example, there was a big booth hawking their “smell proof fashion collection” of camouflage bags. A few steps away a bright green 25-passenger stretch limo had a 25-foot-long fiberglass joint affixed to its roof, perfect for a low-key wedding or first communion, I suppose.
Less retail tech in the expo hall is just one sign of the general shoulder shrug from much of the cannabis industry. Several solution providers told me many well-known dispensary brands have been slow to update their technology on both the front end (e.g. customer experience) and back end (e.g. streamlined inventory management).
I was told by several retail IT channel executive attendees that the leading cannabis POS software providers “still don’t get the channel,” they’re reluctant to explore new partnerships, and they don’t value tech beyond their own software as much as they should.
When I talked with one exhibiting cannabis ISV if they have a partner program, he had to first ask me what a partner program was and then ask one of his colleagues if they had one. Spoiler alert: they do not.
Negative rant over; let’s make this blog more productive than a stoner stumbling through a software tutorial.
Most retail tech solution providers who are seeing success in cannabis described it to me as “in pockets.” Understanding that as the backdrop of this industry, I made it my mission at MJBizCon to understand which cannatech products and services are getting the most traction today.
Here’s what I uncovered, listed in alphabetical order:
- Age verification solutions
- Color label printers
- Countertop cash recycler/counterfeit detector
- E-commerce solution that accepts ACH payments
- Handhelds
- Kiosks
- Linerless label printers
- POS systems designed for CBD stores and smoke shops
- RFID
So what’s a hopeful cannatech solution provider to do? A viable go-forward path became evident to me during the RSPA Cannabis Community’s annual field trip to Planet 13, the world’s largest cannabis dispensary, and our two-and-a-half hour post-field trip dinner.
The cannabis industry headwinds can be countered through two intertwined activities: commercial teaching and creative partnerships that lead to innovative solutions.
“Commercial teaching,” a concept made popular by the book The Challenger Sale, requires the VAR/ISV to go beyond pitching their product to teaching the dispensary leader about the value (ROI, customer experience, customer loyalty, labor savings, uptime, etc.) a quality retail tech solution can provide. That isn’t one-call business; the learning curve will take time.
The most value is rarely found in one narrowly-focused product from one narrowly-focused solution provider. Multiple channel companies – VARs, ISVs, ISOs, payment providers, hardware vendors, distributors – putting their heads together to create a solution that massively impacts dispensaries will eventually make dispensary managers turn their heads.
This may sound daunting, but it’s not new. Five years ago, I wrote this about the collision of the retail IT channel and the cannabis industry:
Cannabis Tech Conference Reveals Vertical’s Possibilities (and High Hurdles) for POS VARs
When entering an emerging vertical, VARs and ISVs expect to encounter a unique set of complexities, nuances, and obstacles. [We offer] this overarching guidance for hopeful cannabis solution providers: buckle up. … There are no doubt opportunities for traditional POS solution providers to latch onto this fast-growth market – if you’ve got the guts (and the resources).
That’s all still true. We wish the transition was faster, but at least there’s been some progress “in pockets.” As one RSPA member noted at our dinner, retail IT hasn’t been rejected by cannabis leaders. They just haven’t invested the time to learn about the solutions the channel is offering. Their ignorance needs to be countered – relentlessly – by trusted advisors offering education on best practices, new technologies, and new services.
That member summed up the challenge eloquently and passionately: “They don’t know about us. They don’t know what we can do for them. But we’re coming. Believe me – we’re coming. We’re going to make this happen, and everyone will be better for it.”
