• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Business Directory
    • Buyers | Licensees
    • Sellers | Ancillary Businesses
    • Submit Product & Service Press Release
  • CBE Exchange
  • CBE Jobs Exchange
  • Events
  • Featured Videos
  • Product & Service Press Releases
  • Sponsored Polls
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Archived Webinars
  • Whitepapers

Cannabis Business Executive - Cannabis and Marijuana industry news

Recreational, Medical, Marijuana, Cannabis, And Hemp News for Cannabis Businesses

  • Follow on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Follow on Google+
  • Follow on LinkedIn
  • Subscribe to our RSS feed
Newsletter 2
  • Home
  • Policy & Legal
    • Hemp Business Executive
    • International
      • Canada
      • Mexico
      • Israel
    • US A to F
      • Alabama
      • Alaska
      • Arizona
      • Arkansas
      • California
      • Colorado
      • Connecticut
      • Delaware
      • District of Columbia
      • Florida
    • US G to M
      • Georgia
      • Hawaii
      • Illinois
      • Indiana
      • Idaho
      • Iowa
      • Kansas
      • Kentucky
      • Louisiana
      • Maine
      • Maryland
      • Massachusetts
    • US M to N
      • Michigan
      • Minnesota
      • Mississippi
      • Missouri
      • Montana
      • Nebraska
      • Nevada
      • New Hampshire
      • New Jersey
      • New Mexico
      • New York
      • North Carolina
      • North Dakota
    • US O to V
      • Ohio
      • Oklahoma
      • Oregon
      • Pennsylvania
      • Rhode Island
      • South Carolina
      • South Dakota
      • Tennessee
      • Texas
      • Utah
      • Vermont
    • US V to W
      • Virginia
      • Washington
      • Wisconsin
      • Wyoming
      • Guam
      • Puerto Rico
  • News & Insights
    • Advertising, Marketing, PR & Research
    • Banking, Finance & Real Estate
    • Compliance and Regulations
    • Corporate Social Responsibility
    • Retailers
    • Hemp Business Executive
    • HR and Staffing
    • North Of The Border
    • Industry People/On the Move
    • Packaging and Supplies
    • Press Releases
    • Processors
    • Producers
    • Security Solutions
    • Science and Technology
    • South Of The Border
  • CBE Lists
    • Ancillary Businesses
      • 2019 CBE Ancillary Business Survey CLICK HERE
      • 2018 CBE 155 A/B
      • 2017 CBE 150 A/B
      • 2016 CBE 100 A/B
    • Producers, Processors, Retailers
      • 2017 CBE 200 PPRs
      • 2015 CBE 100 PPRs
    • Industry Women
      • Glass Ceiling Wreckers: 2019 CBE Power Women of Cannabis
      • 2017 CBE 75 Most Important Women
      • 2016 CBE Top 50 Women
      • 2014 CBE Most Influential Women
    • Most Important Companies
      • 2016 CBE 10 Most Important Companies
      • 2014 CBE 10 Most Important Companies
    • Political 100
      • 2017 CBE Political 100
      • 2016 CBE 100 Political
      • 2014 CBE Political 50
    • 2014 CBE 100 Most Important People
    • CBE RFP Hotlists
      • 2014 CBE Lab Testing Services HotList
      • 2016 BHO Extraction Equipment
      • 2016 CBE Supercritical CO2 Extraction Equipment
      • 2016 CBE Security Solutions
      • 2016 Edibles & Infused Products
  • Company Stories
    • Up and Comers
  • Hemp Business Executive
    • Hemp Policy & Legal
    • Hemp Industry News
    • Hemp State Regulatory Agencies
  • Newsletters
    • CBE News & Insights (Formerly CBE Week)
    • CBE Human Capital Management
    • CBE Technology & Solutions
    • CBE Policy and Legal
    • CBE Product and Service Announcements
  • Op-Ed
    • Cartoons
    • The Buck Stops Here
    • Opinions
    • Comments
  • Associations
  • State Regulatory Agencies
    • Marijuana
    • Hemp
  • Contact
  • AB Survey
  • About Us
  • Account
  • Accounting Services
  • Advertise
  • Advertising, PR & Marketing
  • All Cannabis News
  • Ancillary Business Survey 2018
  • Ancillary Business Survey 2019
  • Archived Webinars
  • Associations & Organizations
  • Banking & Payment Processing
  • Better Start for the Glass Ceiling in this Industry, CBE’s Most Influential Women
  • Book Reviews
  • Business Directory
  • Business Directory Introduction
  • Business Directory Listing
  • Business Directory Manage
  • Business Directory Registration Info
  • Business Directory Welcome
  • Call for speakers
  • Cannabis Investments
  • Cart
  • CBE Exchange
  • CBE HotLists
    • CBE Lab Testing Services HotList 2014
  • CBE Lists
  • CBE Political 50
  • CBE Press LLC Privacy Statement
  • CBE Press News
  • Checkout
  • Consulting Services
  • Consumption Gear
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Contributors
  • Create Your Product & Service Press Release
  • Creative Submission
  • Cultivation Products & Services
  • Current Poll
  • Edible & Infused Products
  • Editor’s Page
  • Email Whitelisting Instructions
  • Event Listing Questionaire
  • Featured Videos
  • Funding Options
  • Hemp State Regulatory List
  • Home
  • Human Capital Management Newsletters
  • Industry Jobs
  • Join the CBE Business Directory
  • Join the Directory
  • Lab Testing Regulations
  • Lab Testing Services
  • Login
  • Logout
  • Marijuana State Regulatory Contacts
  • Marijuana Tax Facts
  • Media Kit
  • Media Kit
  • Medical Marijuana Qualifying Conditions
  • Members
  • MJ Media Kit
  • Most Popular Stories
  • Most Read Stories
  • New Product & Service Listings Welcome
  • Newsletters
    • Ask CBE
    • CBE Human Capital Management
    • CBE News & Insights (Formerly CBE Week)
    • CBE Policy and Legal
    • CBE Product and Service Announcements
    • CBE Technology & Solutions
  • On the Move
  • Organizations & Associations
  • Packaging & Supplies
  • Password Reset
  • Policy & Legal
  • PPR Survey
  • PR Newswire
  • Product Releases
  • Profile Update
  • Register
  • Security Solutions
  • Software & Technology
  • Sponsored Polls
  • State Cannabis Product Packaging Requirements
  • Terms of Service
  • Thank You
  • The Most Influential People in the Cannabis Industry, The Cannabis Business Executive 100
  • Training & Educational Services
  • Upcoming Webinars
  • User
  • Whitepapers
  • WV Senate passes medical marijuana bill to House
  • Categories
  • Locations
  • My Bookings
You are here: Home / News & Insights / Advertising, Marketing, PR & Research / CBD’s National Rollout Requires Execution, Not Just Excitement

CBD’s National Rollout Requires Execution, Not Just Excitement

April 15, 2019 by Eric Giandelone Leave a Comment

With CVS, Walgreens and Rite-Aid all moving in lock step with CBD products, general retailers are now required to develop their own CBD related strategies. Such was the focus at last week’s CBD and the Future of Cannabis conference, where convenience store operators learned more about the opportunities with CBD. And for a group that has seen their already slim margins shrink due to lower cigarette sales, CBD offers a new high-growth item to stock.

The ubiquity of drug stores and c-stores will almost assuredly accelerate the growth of CBD. In research conducted for The CBD Consumer Experience: Part One, accessibility was identified as one of the key factors holding back consumer usage. Even among current CBD users, 43% reported that they would use CBD more frequently if they had easier access to products, while 30% of non-users reported the same. In the more general cannabis market, inconvenient dispensary locations is one of the key drivers for illegal cannabis usage, cited by a quarter of recreational users in 2018’s Adult Use Consumer report. With many consumers in adult-use and medical-states living in cannabis deserts, sparse dispensary coverage is obviously a limiting factor.

While CBD products are available online, for new customers who are not familiar with CBD, seeing these products in a well-known and trusted store lends credibility and assurances. Even for those customers who regularly use CBD today, opening the market by another potential 21,000 locations (combined CVS, Walgreens and Rite-Aid footprint) will undoubtedly lead to greater consumer acceptance and usage.

CBD’s Gain May Cause Dispensary Pain

Current cannabis dispensaries should take note here. It’s true that CBD has been sold in many health food stores over the years, but those stores do not have the same general consumer audience as drug and c-stores. The stores’ massive footprints and no requirement for either a medical card or ID scan makes it ideal for consumers looking for a convenient outlet, without the layers of security and checks required in cannabis dispensaries. For the CBD segments identified in The CBD Consumer Experience: Part One, notably Goop-y Gwyneths and Dosing Dads, the combination of convenient locations and purchase experience will be appealing.

Growth That Needs Management

The prospects of CBD’s mainstreaming into general retail are certainly positive but there are risks that these retailers need to navigate, including the sales and usage of CBD products among those under 18 years old. With a number of c-stores already under watch for sales of e-cigarettes to minors, CBD and cannabis operators need to push their retail partners to strictly adhere to the letter and the spirit of local laws regulating CBD product sales.

But the larger concern that these new retailers must address is actually a fairly simple one—where to stock these products. Do they belong on shelves, mixed in with their adjacent product categories, like snacks, candy, beauty products, etc.? Do they belong behind the counter, the “back bar”? Or do they belong at the checkout but behind lock and key?

Due to shrinkage concerns and risk averseness to sales to minors, it’s likely that CBD products will be placed behind the counter. In time, it may be that CBD products make their way onto the shelves, mixed in with general wellness products. But as an entirely new product category, operators should be pushing for checkout location with select high-volume categories that make sense at such a location—food items, beverages and concentrates. Each retailer will determine the best level of security for these products, but placement in a high-traffic zone is key.

Employee Engagement is Necessary

Lastly, product placement may not matter if the people meant to provide customer service know little about the products. And for the CBD industry, that will be a challenge that will require long-term investment and clarity. As consumers learn and read more about CBD, they’ll likely ask about derivations, intended effects, usage occasions and comparisons to other CBD brands. Vague or noncommittal answers are not a good experience for any party—the sales clerk, the customer or the CBD brand. In this regard, the challenge for CBD is a universal one for brands in drug stores and c-stores, but it does not diminish this challenge’s importance.

CBD’s introduction into mainstream retail is not without peril, but the growth opportunity for manufacturers and retailers is significant. Getting this right is not only important for the opportunity at hand, but also for the long-term push to end cannabis prohibition nationally.

Contextual Links

Filed Under: Advertising, Marketing, PR & Research, Cannabis & Hemp Research Tagged With: High Yield Insights, High Yield Insights CBD Study, The CBD Consumer Experience: Part One

About Eric Giandelone

Eric Giandelone is the co-founder of High Yield Insights. High Yield Insights is a consumer-insights firm dedicated to the cannabis market, fostering constructive, fact-based discussions that lead to well-grounded strategic decisions. With deep roots in multiple consumer-facing industries, High Yield Insights brings decades of expertise to this dynamic, quickly evolving market.

Eric can be reached directly at [email protected]

Primary Sidebar

Ad: Sidebar 1

Featured Video

Associations & Organizations

clearing div

Ad: Sidebar 2

Business Directory

Ad: Skyscraper 1

CBE Jobs Exchange


Featured Jobs
Go
Post a Job
More jobs
Powered by CBEJobsExchange.com

RSS Recent Jobs

  • Brand & Show Marketing Director - Marijuana Business Daily - Lakewood, CO
  • GC/MS Scientist - VRS Recruitment - , OR
  • Brand & Show Marketing Director - Marijuana Business Daily - Lakewood, CO

Product & Service Press Releases

Ad: Sidebar 3

CBE Events

Ad: Sidebar 4

State Regulatory Agencies

Ad: Skyscraper 2

Webinars

Ad: Sidebar 5

Associations & Organizations

Ad: Sidebar 6

Featured Video

Ad: Skyscraper 3

Business Directory

Ad: Sidebar 7

CBE Jobs Exchange

Ad: Sidebar 8

CBE Events

Ad: Skyscraper 4

Footer

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • CBE Press LLC Privacy Statement
  • Contribute
  • Contributors
  • Newsletters
  • Terms of Service
  • Contributor Login
  • Follow on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Follow on Google+
  • Follow on LinkedIn
  • Subscribe to our RSS feed
Newsletter 2

© Copyright 2020 CBE PRESS LLC. - All Rights Reserved. Cannabis Business Executive Is A Trademark Of CBE PRESS LLC. · All Rights Reserved · And Our Sitemap · All Logos & Trademarks Belong To Their Respective Owners·