In Canada, legal cannabis retail is fairly new, but business is already booming. Anyone who is considering bringing their cannabis-based business into the online world may be wondering what platform will work best with the product. The most popular choice at the moment is the e-commerce platform Shopify.
When marijuana was first legalized in October 2018, Shopify saw online cannabis stores pop up in droves — the company said they processed an estimated 100 orders per minute. By the time midnight hit on the day of legalization, their businesses saw millions of visitors looking to celebrate the historical moment by placing orders. The e-commerce platform has fully embraced its role within the budding Canadian cannabis industry.
Other than Shopify’s vast popularity, it has plenty of other benefits that can appeal to retailers who want to build up their audience online and increase their sales. The platform is very user-friendly, offering 24/7 customer support to hold your hand through website creation, management, marketing and more.
Another benefit is that it helps make product shipments easier. Through the platform, you can use the netParcel app to save up to 70% with discounted shipping rates. The long list of courier options allows you to choose between companies so that your business isn’t at the mercy of the postal service. By having more choices, you can ignore postal service problems like strikes and delays so that your customers can be happy with their orders.
You not only have the option to select couriers based on the shipping costs. You can also select them based on the delivery time. If a local client is demanding about their order and wants it in immediately, you can get your shipments on the same day — if they’re not in a rush, you can relax the delivery-time a little bit.
If you haven’t joined Shopify just yet, you can still learn more about us and our shipping benefits through our app. Or you can explore our website and blog to find out all of the information you need.
Shopify isn’t the only e-commerce platform out there. For instance, the company Square announced that they are jumping into the ring. The Square Online Store is courting business owners to come to their forum to create their own digital storefronts. The development is prioritizing elements like Instagram-selling and shipping to make reaching customers easier for merchants.
It seems like Square could be coming for Shopify’s reign, but it doesn’t seem to be tapping into the growth of the cannabis market. According to the company, they have categorized marijuana and similar items as illegal products that they can’t support despite it being legalized in multiple locations in the United States. It hasn’t been declared legal federally, so they don’t allow those businesses. It will be interesting to see if they change that strong stance in the future, especially when considering the Canadian market.
Clearly, Shopify is the e-commerce bandwagon that cannabis retailers are jumping on. It brings benefits for website creation, management, marketing and, of course, shipping. If that’s not enough, the platform has greeted the cannabis market with open arms. Your business will be a welcome addition.
