Since Canada made it legalized to consume marijuana for recreational purposes in 2018, many popular streets in Toronto and even across different cities in Canada as well have gotten a new name and identity altogether.
But what brought in a revolution in this industry is the pandemic and the lockdowns in 2020. Many popular hubs in Toronto now report having opened a marijuana dispensary. The growth has been so much more that now a very popular place in Toronto alone has opened up three hundred and twenty new marijuana dispensaries in it since the pandemic. The growth has indeed become massive as some of the businesses have shut their doors permanently and have got replaced by a marijuana dispensary. The studies made by some of the popular real estate brokerages state that since the year 2020, the total number of other business that has closed down in Toronto is more than 3,500 and it has got replaced by marijuana dispensary making its total growth increase by 2,485%, once which used to be as low as 13%. This massive growth in this industry also sends out an alarm that it may lead to an oversupply of the substance around, bringing an emergence of the black market back into the scene again.
Market about marijuana dispensaries
There lies no debate about the fact that marijuana dispensaries are the final frontier of Canada’s C$2.6 billion marijuana industry for recreational purposes. Each day the competition seems to be growing as the option has now opened up for selling legalized marijuana both in walk-in dispensaries and also through online dispensaries and the process of delivery using the support of the mail order delivery system
People are having multiple options for shopping for marijuana but what needs to be seen is the steps the different dispensaries take in order to do things differently which shall support them to remain in the business.
The green rush and its popularity
In 2018, when the government legalized nationally that consuming recreational marijuana is permissible, the approach to marijuana was still very limited as consumers could only have them from a few government or private stores only. But the market has changed since March 2020. As there was a lockdown around, the government threw open the gates of this industry more widely. It processed the application of the dealers and allowed the private dealers to sell marijuana in stores and dispensaries. This became much quicker access for people. Furthermore, to remove the existence of illegal buying and selling of weeds the provincial government took steps to make the permits a bit easier for the registered dealers to bring around fierce competition.
The green rush became more like a movement very soon. It encouraged more registered dealers to open up the business making it difficult for the illegal dealers to sustain. The market doubled since then as the dealers have now an opportunity to sell from dispensaries and also online as well. Yet the stigma still went around as the landlords would not be very open to renting the spaces to marijuana dispensaries when most businesses had permanently shut down during the lockdown. They would often demand a premium. The dispensaries had to pay double the amount for taking up the space on rent.
How the dispensaries are gaining an edge in the market
When marijuana was not legalized in Canada and also after it became legalized as well there were not many options to offer to people other than pots and joint rolls. In addition to that, not many varieties of strains were available too as whatever business took place was through the black market, and most were either overpriced or were not of good quality as well. The market actually gained momentum since the pandemic and in addition to that began providing better quality products having a variety too. The dispensaries now offer marijuana in multiple forms such as edibles, flowers, pills, oils, and even beverages as well. In fact, now each dispensary across the different locations in the city has its own specialty strains and offers which they are providing to entice the customers.
In fact, to sustain themselves in this highly competitive industry, many big marijuana companies are now giving out the franchises of their product to multiple dispensaries that are spread across the different corners of the cities. While the companies are using a part of it in the marijuana industry and a part of it is being used for other businesses as well such as lifestyle stores. In this way, they are trying to build an emotional connection with the customers and keep their competition in the marijuana industry alive too by converting the marijuana consumers of other brands into their brand users.
Dispensaries and their coping mechanism to challenges
As more marijuana dispensaries are flowering each day across various parts of the city, it is becoming increasingly challenging for the dispensaries to sustain in the market as the customers are moving to various brands with unpredictability. In addition to that various logistical concerns are also arising very frequently. To cope with these daily challenges the dispensaries are trying hard to keep the customers interested in their products. They are offering much better grade products which are either grown by them or are brought from local reliable farmers. Apart from the quality, these dispensaries are also providing a variety of strains and selling accessories for consumption as well so that the customers do not have to run elsewhere. They even are giving various discounts on their strains and keeping other options open as well such as selling through websites and fulfilling the delivery through a mail order delivery system. Some are even waving off the delivery fee for some time making it a part of their goodwill gesture.
Yet, irrespective of all the challenges and the ups and downs the dispensaries may face from time to time, the future is bright ahead. The best thing about this industry is that it is growing ata quicker pace and this is always a sign of hope for the dispensaries to survive crossing all odds.