Pot brands race to claim retail dominance in budding marijuana landscape

gb123

Well-Known Member
TORONTO — The Ontario government has inked a deal to use Shopify Inc.'s e-commerce platform for cannabis sales online and in stores as part of its plan to be the province's sole distributor of legal recreational marijuana.


The Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation (OCRC), a subsidiary of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, will use the Ottawa-based company's online store software for its online and mobile sales portal.

"Our top priority is fulfilling the province's framework for the safe and sensible retailing of recreational cannabis for when it is legalized by the federal government," said George Soleas, president and CEO of the LCBO.


"We look forward to combining our expertise as a socially responsible retailer with Shopify's world-class commerce solutions to deliver the safe, informed and reliable shopping experience that our new customers will expect."
Shopify's technology will also be used inside brick-and-mortar stores to process transactions on iPads and for digital screens displaying product and health information.


The OCRC said Ontarians will have access to the same product information, use guidelines and social responsibility information —that adhere to federal marketing provisions — both in-store and online.

The public consultation for Health Canada's proposed guidelines for cannabis regulation — which include limits on branding elements on packaging, as well as restrictions on marketing similar to tobacco — finished on Jan. 20, with a finalized version yet to be delivered.

Bringing this differentiator to the LCBO on this historic project to consumers of legal age across Ontario, is a great example of a made-in-Canada innovation, which we are proud to be a part of.Loren Padelford, Shopify Plus
The agency selected the tech darling to provide point-of-sale systems for in-store and online sales in late 2017.

"Bringing this differentiator to the LCBO on this historic project to consumers of legal age across Ontario, is a great example of a made-in-Canada innovation, which we are proud to be a part of," said Loren Padelford, vice-president of Shopify Plus, the division that focuses on big clients.

The OCRC is in the process of determining the design for the user experience, with the aim of having operations installed in time for the proposed federal marijuana legalization launch in July 2018, the agency said.

Province to roll out more stores

In addition to online sales, Ontario will roll out an initial wave of 40 stores which are expected to grow in number to 150 by the end of 2020.

The government agency will also use Shopify's platform to manage inventory, accounting and human resources operations.

Sales of the drug in Ontario will only be available through government-run online or in standalone stores, while some other provinces such as Alberta and British Columbia are allowing for some private sales of cannabis.

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gb123

Well-Known Member
"We look forward to combining our expertise as a socially responsible retailer with Shopify's world-class commerce solutions to deliver the safe, informed and reliable shopping experience that our new customers will expect."

gotta love responsible poisons.. :lol:
reliable this. :hump:
 

CalyxCrusher

Well-Known Member
haha match made in heaven. Shady practices all around!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/shopify-citron-research-andrew-left-1.4327736


Shares in Shopify were down by as much as 11 per cent on Wednesday after a high-profile American short seller said most of the 500,000 businesses the company works with aren't legitimate.

Citron Research's Andrew Left released a video Wednesday morning alleging that Ottawa-based Shopify's hype is unsustainable, and argues the stock should be worth half what it is.

Shopify makes money by helping small and medium-sized businesses sell their products and services online, by handling all of the back end logistics of payments, inventory and web design via a cloud-based service.

Since going public on the TSX in 2015, the stock has more than doubled this year, to become one of Canada's largest technology companies.

But in his video and accompanying website, Left alleges that most of the company's customers aren't legitimate businesses, but rather simply people who have been sold dubious "business opportunities" built around reselling, which goes against Federal Trade Commission rules.

"They are not selling them to business owners," Left said of the websites. "They are selling them to people as opportunities to get rich quick."


Shopify is "a company that has mastered the good old get rich quick scheme," Left said, saying he can't account for as much as 90 per cent of the company's customer base.

"This is not an $11-billion company," Left said. "This needs to get completely looked at by the FTC and completely looked at by Wall Street."

He also accuses the company of paying bloggers and other online influencers to produce content favourable to Shopify without disclosing that relationship.

Shopify did not reply to a request for comment by CBC News. Trading volume in the company's shares was about twice as much as normal on the stock market in Toronto.

Left is what's known as a short seller, which means he makes money by betting against the performance of stocks that he thinks are overvalued. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, just over four million shares in Shopify are currently held by short sellers, about three per cent of the total. But that ratio has doubled since the middle of August.

Left rose to prominence in 2015 when he went public with allegations that drug company Valeant was fudging its numbers.

The Montreal based drug maker was the most valuable company in Canada at the time, but has since lost more than 90 per cent of its value.

Other high profile Citron Research bets, however, have been much less successful, including attempts to trade against chip maker NVIDIA and car company Tesla.
 
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