Welcome the "Lovetenders"!
In a business where it's not as easy to differentiate, what do you do? You reinvent job profiles! You may be well familiar with budtenders and their important role in serving customers. Now, it's time to welcome the "lovetenders"! Someone who will sit down with new customers, who will give consultations and address misconceptions, especially among those who still may have a stigma on cannabis use. The ultimate goal of lovetenders? To encourage conversations to improve individual health.
The City of Waterloo in the Canadian province Ontario just got its fourteenth cannabis retailer. The new Hyerlove Cannabis shop takes pride in branding itself as a wellness collective with "lovetenders," a level up from budtenders! What's the role of a lovetender, you may ask? The answer is simple: to be more inviting in a market where standing out from your competition is becoming ever more challenging.
Red flags were raised last year that Canadian provinces such as Ontario face the burden of an overcrowded market. The number of shops in Ontario jumped almost 50% throughout 2021, prompting vendors to think of strategies to distinguish themselves in a sector where everyone essentially offers good services and sells high-quality products.
"I think anyone that's in this industry would agree that Ontario didn't necessarily roll it out in the right way," Courtney Fonseca from Hyerlove Cannabis tells The Record.
Fonseca's ownership group started its application process with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) when only one cannabis retailer was operating in the uptown core. There are now five different cannabis operators, and "it's likely that they all may not be successful," according to Tracy Van Kalsbeek, executive director with the Uptown Waterloo BIA.
The City of Waterloo has slightly less than 115,000 residents. Having 10+ cannabis shops around town just might be something that will prompt your business to rethink and reinvent. Shop owners are right to ask if there are enough people keen on the idea of consuming cannabis. Some potential customers may still cling to stigma related to smoking or may not be familiar with other ways to consume cannabis. Knowing that your town has almost the same number of dispensaries as bars and coffee shops is not helping either.
Enter the lovetender. It may be a gamechanger for an enterprise that wants to ensure it gives the best experience to its customers.
Industry watchers in Ontario predict a market rightsizing is on the way in 2022. In some cities, larger chains are likely to gobble up smaller stores in more attractive locations. But basically, all vendors are in the same ring of fire. Whether big or small, retailers are challenged to put an extra effort, focus on targeted consumer segments, and differentiate themselves from others. Either that or fall out of the market!
S
Stephen Andrews
