Find cannabis and deals based on your preferences from any dispensary anywhere.
Year Created
2022
Team Size
4
Time to Live
8-10 months
Scope
Wtf are we building
Searching for cannabis online can be a losing effort - with most apps trying to jam impersonal search results down your throat, its easy to miss out on life-changing products. Cannible exists to connect people with the cannabis products and ideas they'd most likely enjoy.
Negative. Nope. Nuh-uh.
First, let's clearly define the problem: the cannabis industry needs a sophisticated, curated, end-to-end experience designed to help the customer feel comfortable, secure and informed, while providing streamlined technologies to enable the growth of cannabis businesses.
By that definition, the "big guys" don't cut it. Their recycled versions of outdated online shopping sites is like putting lipstick on a pig.
I needed Cannible when I first discovered cannabis. I needed help with anxiety and ironically the process of trying to find the right cannabis products from a pile of expensive and generic search results felt like getting the right answer on a math test I wasn't prepared for.
When I dug deeper I discovered that the "best" apps out there were at best… meh. I found that they were at best cheap imitations of traditional e-commerce platforms, trapped in legacy technologies and outdated business models that are incompatible with the true experience of cannabis. It was still hard to find the right product. It was still hard to pay. It was still hard to know if you're buying the right thing. They were just websites.
I knew an opportunity emerged to build the cannabis app I wish I had, the cannabis app that actually makes it easy to cannabis.
Research
Research and Discovery for this project was a practice in patience, diligence and commitment to solving a highly complex problem. The cannabis industry faces layers upon layers of regulation and red tape, which is why you don't see any major consumer brand companies capitalizing on the opportunities in the space.
For example, its commonly thought that Visa, MasterCard, AmEx and the other major branded card networks are legally prohibited from practicing business in the cannabis space. The truth is, they are not. What is true is that they have prohibitive language in their operating policies that prevents their customers (aka: anyone with a credit card processor) to accept payments for a federally illegal substance.
Those same networks could create a vehicle that allows money to move around to support commerce of cannabis, but without identity safeguards and expensive pivots in infrastructure it would be far too costly to enter the space before federalization.
Translation: its the wild f___ing west.
Strategy
Where do we point the ship
I see an opportunity to go beyond convention of e-commerce and reframe the solution as: Facilitating decision making for the entire supply chain of cannabis. From seed to after-sale.
Discreetly learning user preferences and matching them with the stuff they’d actually enjoy from any cannabis retailer, local or out-of-town.
Being responsible, incorruptible stewards of our customer’s data - creating first-of-its-kind technologies, while upholding the highest and most transparent standards of data usage.
We go beyond this by offering customers secure and convenient ways to pay, while unblocking retailers from growing their businesses.
All members will have 24/7 access to exclusive content featuring prominent athletes and celebrities bringing their unique voices and stories to Cannible. by creating single source of truth for all things cannabis.
Target Audience
Weed the people
scroll
I interviewed about 2 dozen people on their thoughts on cannabis - this included an age range from 22 - 91, experienced users and newbies, and from different parts of the country.
I was surprised to have discovered an unexpected trend in the data - the majority of cannabis users are not the 20-somethings we assume them to be. In fact, I discovered that people over the age of 65 make up the smallest customer segment but are also the biggest spenders.
The most interesting thing I found was that while most of these interviews had similar characteristics (like value, convenience, concerns for safety, etc.), underneath the surface was a deeply personal story that drove each individual towards cannabis for completely different reasons.
This is where every single other platform falls short - their data is based on sales and repeat sales. Nothing in there about a unique users' personal preferences or satisfaction.
This data is obviously the tip of the iceberg, but what is clear is that there are underserved and neglected customer segments that are herded into one-size-fit-all solutions.
66% of Americans now support legalizing marijuana, and 12% of U.S. adults report to regularly consume cannabis.
The average customer age is 37.6 years old, but 25- to 29-year-olds account for the largest percentage of customers (20%), followed by 21- to 24-year-olds (16%). People ages 65 to 95 make up less than 5% of customers.
Most people (35.8%) spend between $25 and $50 per trip to a dispensary, while only 8.2% spend more than $100/trip. The rest spend less than $10 on average.
The average customer spends $645 on cannabis each year, and over 57% of customers spent more than $500. Very few customers—less than 10%—spent over $2,500.
Although there is plenty market data to show cannabis sales segmented by males vs. females, I felt it was critical for Cannible to not recognize the relevance of segmenting data on the basis of sex, as there is no conclusive scientific evidence to prove a difference in cognitive or physiological effects. It is understood scientifically that tolerance to the various cannabinoids found in cannabis is individualized to the user, and not influenced by gender or gender identity.
Competition
Get tf outta here
Cannible has an opportunity to capture significant market share with better and defensible experiences for both customers and retailers.
Comprehensiveness - prioritize building an extensive and diverse supply base, giving customers many different options for any single transaction.
Exclusivity - being the only source for in-demand content and products
Prediction- recommending highly rated products based on preferences and aggregated efficacy ratings
This complete reimagining of commerce technology of allow for scalable holistic experiences, from initial discovery to after-sale, creating a clear path to capture top-of-mind demand from competitors.
Go-To-Market Strategy
Get the show on the road
Due to restrictive policies set forth by the largest display networks like Google and Facebook, display advertising is generally unavailable to us. Therefore, the marketing channels available to us that make sense to pursue include:
Industry blogs with large audiences
Radio, billboards, newspaper, magazines
Small actions that don't scale; contests and handwritten notes
Evergreen content relevant with top search queries
Byproduct supporting content to draw traffic back to Cannible
Creation of large email lists to promote/cross-promote
Encouraging users to refer other users with incentives
Engineer embeddable menus, widgets, calculators, or other free tools
Sales, outreach, direct relationship building with prospects
Commissions for sales by independent contractors not employed by Cannible
App stores, presence on existing and emerging social media platforms
In-person industry conferences to create essential B2B connections
Speaking engagements, events, talks, presentations, huddles
UX Flows
The Wayfinder feature is an approachable tool for users of all levels to easily find stuff based on their preferences. The tool takes in the user's location and various consumption preferences and actively recommends products the user would most likely enjoy.
Cannabis is unlike most consumer products in that you must qualify in order to purchase it. Age is the most common factor, but local or regional laws can sometimes prohibit cannabis sales even if located in a legalized state.
Cannible is the first app to create a secure member profile that allows users to grant and revoke access to retailers, giving them complete control over their own data.
There are currently no cannabis apps that allow you to manage your order after you click "submit". Any modifications to your order, notifications or status updates are left to the dispensary, and is often riddled with mistakes.
Cannible makes it easy to submit an order from your phone and stay up to date on status for delivery, curbside or in-store pickup with cashless, contactless pay.
