E-commerce 2025 Research: Insights for Cannabis Retailers
Many cannabis firms rely heavily on e-commerce to drive sales and build tight customer relationships. Quality industry data is hard to come by but upwards of 62% of a weed seller’s revenue involves some form of digital engagement.
Broad studies of e-commerce user needs and behaviours could help. McKinsey, a leading consultancy, recently published their 2024 survey of 1,000 representative US consumers.
Yes, online shopping for cannabis is not the same as buying apparel or vacations. And there are unique operational wrinkles with payments, age-gating and permissible brand messages.
Yet, this research is still helpful. Most weed consumers also buy other products online, with the same devices and frequency. They would know what a good user and delivery experience is.
E-commerce is not immune to broader forces. Covid triggered a surge in popularity. Shipping and logistics costs have increased 25% since 2019 due to higher labour, utility, and fuel costs. The availability of back-office workers remains tight in some markets.
The competitive stakes are also higher. Consumers have more options than ever. More cannabis firms offer more e-commerce products and services than the pre-Covid period. Delivery speed, precision and available platforms have improved - though reliability has not kept pace.
4 key survey findings are:
1. Less need for speed
90% of consumers are willing to wait 2-3 days for deliveries - particularly if it lets them avoid shipping costs. While most weed consumers have less patience, many (e.g., medical users, large size buyers) would wait to save money.
2. The importance of reliability
Consumers might be willing to trade off slightly slower delivery speeds for more assurance that packages will arrive on time within the promised delivery window.
3. Greater price sensitivity
90% of consumers are likely to abandon shopping carts that feature high shipping costs for standard items.
4. A desire for flexibility
45% consumer have online shipments delivered to locations other than their home. About 70% place importance on being able to schedule delivery times.
These results have major implications for a vendor’s online/physical (i.e. omnichannel) customer experience as well as their fulfillment engine:
Sellers should consider…
> Moving beyond gen 1.0 user experiences to reduce order friction and cart abandonment while enabling more powerful omnichannel strategies;
> Improving delivery reliability by streamlining back-office systems, data exchanges and work flows;
> Provide delivery optionality (where possible) in terms of shipping times and windows;
> Fully leverage their consumer data to maximize service levels, marketing ROI and targeting.
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