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.
Lovetender is the Next Level of Cannabis Budtender
Red flags were raised last year as Canadian provinces such as Ontario faced with the burden of an overcrowded market. The number of shops in Ontario jumped almost 50% throughout 2021, prompting vendors to rethink the way of their work and how they can distinguish their business in a sector where everyone essentially offers good services and 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 told 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 area. 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 reinvent or even pivot. Shop owners have every right to ask if there are enough cannabis consumers and shoppers in an area as small. There are certainly those who still cling to stigma related to smoking, or they might not be familiar with more novel cannabis delivery methods. 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 insiders anticipate that Ontario will undergo a market rightsizing throughout the course of 2022. Larger chains are more likely to survive the incoming wave of closures, especially in areas with more attractive locations. But all vendors are in the same ring of fire. Big or small, cannabis retailers are in a situation where they need to put an extra effort, try if business can be done differently, even invent silly new job titles, just so they can stand up in a hot-boiling market. Either that or put the padlock.
Also read on Soft Secrets:
- Shakeout is Imminent for Ontario's Dense Pot
S
Stephen Andrews
