The company behind the Toronto alcohol delivery app Boozer is looking to carve out a niche with a new cannabis e-commerce app, but the launch will require navigating a patchwork of restrictive regulations across the country.
Called Super Anytime, the app officially launched in Manitoba on Wednesday. Super Anytime Inc., the company behind the app, has been test driving its software in Winnipeg since December.
The app is essentially an e-commerce portal for multiple cannabis retailers. It links into retailers’ point-of-sale systems, listing up-to-date product availability and pricing. Customers use the app to select products for either delivery or pick-up.
Super Anytime will not, however, process payments or deliver products to customers.
"Because we're not a licensed retailer, we're not plant touching, we can't process the payments, so we send the user over to process payment with the licensed retailer,” said Michael Kniazeff, CEO of Super Anytime. The cannabis is then shipped to the buyer using an approved delivery company, such as Canada Post or Pineapple Express Delivery Inc.
Cannabis e-commerce differs from province to province. Manitoba and Saskatchewan allow private retailers to handle their own online sales, while in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario, the provincial control boards have a monopoly on online sales even though private brick-and-mortar stores are allowed.
Even for less restrictive markets like Manitoba and Saskatchewan, developing the Super Anytime app was not as simple as rebranding the software they created for Boozer. The alcohol delivery app, for example, can process payments directly.
"We started with two native applications, Android and IOS, and then we actually had to develop a web application in order to even take payments. Those are some of the pains from a technology standpoint that we had to basically find solutions for," Mr. Kniazeff said.
Nonetheless, there are plenty of similarities between Boozer and Super Anytime, said president and co-founder Ian Delves, particularly when it comes to dealing with regulators.
“It's just a matter of building those relationships, and making sure you're the subject matter expert when it comes to the regulations, so you can build that solution… [It’s]saying, ‘hey regulators, this actually works with today's regulations, you don't need to change anything, or amend anything, it's not going to be a hassle for you,’" Mr. Delves said.
The company is in discussion with regulators in Saskatchewan, and expects to launch the app in that province in the coming months. After Saskatchewan, the company is targeting Alberta (Calgary in particular) and Ontario. Private e-commerce for delivery is not allowed in either province, but they do allow online reservation and pick-up.
Despite the regulatory limits, the company is pitching itself to retailers as a partner that can help drive sales. The company will make most of its money by taking a commission on the sales done via its app. As such, it has an interest in acquiring new customers, and will spend on advertising to get them.
“On the tech side, we are also operating as a tech expert for these retailers... to help roll out new processes and technology like click and collect and reserve-ahead, which the retailers may not have. So we’re partners in marketing, partners in tech and we’re a new sales channel,” Mr. Kniazeff said.
Mark Rendell