Budtenders rule the world (or at least dispensaries)
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Tuesday afternoon I had a software demo and was surprised to see the company's CEO was on the call too. Before I could say anything she interrupted the SDR to tell me she loves Free Smoke and wants a hoodie. I told her "I got you! As long as you're the first person to catch my typo* when this week's issue goes out". Good luck and god speed, let's get into Free Smoke:
*I spell budtender as one word with no hyphen and that doesn't count, nice try.
"They stick around kicking out feedback,
And I entertain it as if I need that"
- Drake, Say What's Real
Budtenders rule the world (or at least the cannabis industry)
I have no source on this data point, it comes from a contact close to one of the large data players in cannabis. They're still cleaning the raw data and I'm told it's not perfect but very close:
70% of consumers entering a dispensary walk out with at least 1 product they did not plan to buy when they came in.
Soak that up for a second.
More than 2/3rds of every single consumer who walks in, new or not, is walking out with a product they weren't planning to buy.
Everyone of those transactions, that's 70% of all retail transactions, is an opportunity for attachment of an additional sku, introduction to a new brand, and more. These late stage decisions are not only influenced by budtenders - but guided by them. The scale of these impulse decisions shines a light on how much influence budtenders truly have among all cannabis consumers, not just new ones. This is exactly why I consider cannabis a hospitality industry.
People love comparing cannabis to other industries and I've got news for you: Budtenders aren't bartenders, store clerks, or waiters. They're guides for a complex range of products that in many cases vary by batch. If I had to label it today, I'd call it a cross between a Concierge and a Sommelier. A hybrid if you will.
In a hotel, the concierge is your personal tour guide, shopper, and all the above. You're in a new city, and they're there to get you whatever you need and wherever you need to go. Moreover, even if you're a regular in the city, the concierge knows what's happening downtown tonight. They know about the new restaurant that just opened 3 blocks over, and they know what pizza spot will make you a meat lovers pizza w/ vegan cheese.
Sommeliers are trained in all the nuance of cultivars, terroir, regions, and complex combination of all those things that create the wines we have today. The elephant in the room is of course the inconsistency of budtender knowledge. The cannabis ecosystem in it's current form doesn't exactly support exhaustive training curriculums for front-lines and?confusion about sativa/indica?dilutes the value of experiential knowledge in a lot of cases.
领英推荐
I say all this to say one thing: Tip your budtenders
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Innovative Marketing and Sales Leader with 15+ Years of Strategic Expertise
2 年I have looked to the bartenders for years in the beverage and spirits game to drive trail and recommendations of brand so it's great to see similar trends in the cannabis space.
Counselor at Law, NYS Licensee, Writer, and Industry Yenta
2 年Whether it's sommeliers for wine, waiters for food, locals for travel tips, it's always about asking others what they enjoy, what makes them happy, what they're passionate about. More often than not, they'll share their expertise and guide you accordingly. That's the consumer experience people should be paying for.
CEO Fingerboard Farm, Fingerboard Farm Market and Fingerboard Country Inn
2 年If it wasn’t for the Budtenders in the dispensary’s that carry my products, who love and understand the passion that I put into every ounce of each package, I’d be out of business!! Thank you all for taking the time to educate your patients!
Global Marketing Manager
2 年That's the beauty of having a knowledgeable Budtender, there's so many new products able to break into the markets because of these "outside sales" from the Budtenders, gives some new guys the chance to grow! Plus I sent an email with what I think the typo was, waiting to see if I got it in time!!
Fractional Chief Digital Officer. Data & Intelligence. (CDO, CMO, CINO) - Investor, Board Member, Speaker #OSINT #TalentIntelligence #AI #Analytics
2 年I detect bad math... What was the survey question that led to this series of answers? "70% of consumers entering a dispensary walk out with at least 1 product they did not plan to buy when they came in." 3/4 of the people walking into a dispensary don't check the website or know what they carry or have in stock. That would infer that they don't know what they are buying at all... You might have fan favorites or brand loyalists, but everyone else is shopping for whatever is on the shelf. I'm not saying that budtenders are not important, but the floor layout, pricing, shelf presentation, brand communication, etc might play a bigger role.