Data analytics is a vital tool for any business or industry, and the Cannabis industry is no exception.
Analytics offer insight into large and often disparate systems. Businesses can make sense of trends, track responses to activities, and even sometimes predict the future with “predictive analytics”. Many Businesses Intelligence (BI) tools are available to Cannabis Cultivators and Processors; however, these same companies benefit from focusing specifically on understanding the trends and behaviors of consumers via end-user data analytics. So, what do cannabis manufacturing companies have to learn from end-user data analytics? More than you might think.
Cannabis is a three-layer business, cultivation (growers), processing (production), and dispensing (retail). Cannabis growing operations and processing labs send their end products to local dispensaries, who act as the real location for gathering end-user analytics. As a cannabis cultivator and or processor, the dispensaries are officially your clients, but their customers are also your end-users. Demand from local dispensary clientele is what shapes demand from dispensaries for your products. Trends and tastes followed by their customers are those that should influence your own production, branding, and marketing strategies. So, what can a cannabis manufacturing business learn by watching end-user data analytics?
Seasonal Patterns of Buyer Demand and Behavior
One of the best uses of data analytics in any market, especially Cannabis, is to identify patterns of demand. Cannabis businesses need to think about what seasonal, psychological, and cultural factors impact their consumers. For example, there may be months in your region when weekend parties are more common, like summer. End-user analytics will not only tell you what cannabis products are more popular by season, but also give clues on how to ramp up for each season to increase sales and user satisfaction. Market analysts will breakdown consumer buying patterns into four categories or sciences:
- The Science of Seasons – Cannabis isn’t affected by just regular old seasons but rather what we could call personal, seasonal patterns. For example, much like streaming TV, when consumers spend more time inside, they buy more cannabis because they consume it faster.
- The Science of Celebration – Event trends often translate higher Cannabis sales. For example, holidays and events like St. Patrick’s Day, Independence Day, etc. will see spikes in cannabis sales.
- The Science of States – What are regional trends? What are event trends? What are cultural trends? These are all facts to be considered when making business decisions by each state.
- The Science of Stash – as an example stashing behavior obviously correlates with couch behavior. When people spend more time inside, they’re more tempted to go through their stash and cannabis sales increase.
Correlation Between Web Traffic and End-User Sales
Cannabis manufacturers often put in an admirable effort to document and describe each strain they produce. Having a complete information center on your products can not only win curious web traffic, but it can also boost trust in your brand and increase the rate that your products fly off the dispensary shelves. Specific tracking can tell you if users navigate from your website to a local dispensary’s menu to seek your listed products, while even general trend tracking can tell you if a pickup in online readers correlates to a pickup in purchases of your products from dispensaries.
Track Response to Promotional Campaigns
Building awareness of your cannabis product brand is a natural part of growing your business through both the B2B and end-user markets. This means promotional campaigns. Data analytics gives you the opportunity to track very clearly which of your promotional campaigns are most effective by tracking specific clicks and conversions related to the deals you put out. You can share bundle discounts with dispensaries who pass on the savings, you can share coupon codes that your dispensaries will accept, and you can provide links with trackable URL tags to discover which of your promotions has caught the most attention and which has inspired the most purchases of your products through a local dispensary.
Other Uses for Data Analytics in the Cannabis Industry
What else does ever-more-advanced data analytics have in store for the cannabis industry? As the industry matures, each business accumulates more documents, operations, and raw data to examine. With the help of tools like cannabis business software and developing AI-powered trend analysis, the cannabis industry has a lot to gain on the business side of things just by keeping an eye out for the right tools and opportunities.
- Grow Op Optimization
- Regulation Compliance Strategy
- Fleet Logistics Management and Route Planning
- Operations Management
For more cannabis industry insights, technology, and news, contact us today.
