By Madeline Scanlon

Budtenders play a unique role in the retail environment. As both salespeople and educators, they have a much larger influence on the purchasing decision than most other store employees. Brightfield Group studied this impact on consumer purchasing in our Canadian Budtender Study, and the findings reveal how brands can best influence cannabis store employees to recommend its products.

#1 – Personal Experience with a Brand is Crucial

While it may seem obvious, budtenders’ sense of what brands to recommend comes from their own
personal experience with the product. A majority of budtenders – 73% – say it’s important to them to
personally try a product before recommending it to a customer. With this data point alone, it becomes
imperative for a brand to get its product into a budtender’s hands. Over the last year, sampling of small amounts of cannabis product directly related to education or training have become allowed in Ontario and Alberta. As the two largest cannabis markets in Canada by 2022 sales, this new landscape of sampling could have a significant impact on what brands are most recommended. A strong cannabis store employee education campaign with exciting samples for budtenders could entirely change a brand’s growth trajectory.

However, the product must be good. 48% of budtenders say they are unlikely to give a brand a second
chance if they don’t like its product. Brands must ensure a product experience is up to par with
expectations, as these experienced cannabis consumers will know the difference between value, mid-
level, and premium cannabis bud. They will also know when a gummy tastes like distillate or a vape
cartridge isn’t pulling smoothly.

Besides cannabis products, budtenders also care about personal experience with the brand via swag
items. 52% of budtenders say swag impacts brand recommendations. They believe swag for themselves
is even more effective than swag for consumers, especially if it is higher quality. Cannabis store
employees specifically listed hoodies and t-shirts as being an impactful swag item for them while
believing cheaper swag items like stickers or lighters would work better for customers. And while
experienced budtenders may have dozens of other branded hoodies, apparel lends the opportunity to
get creative with branded designs that catch budtenders’ attention.

#2 – Engaged Brand Representatives

Budtenders greatly appreciate brand representatives that help them do their job. With so many SKUs
and an ever-changing brand landscape, even experienced cannabis store employees need a constant
stream of information to stay current. And if a brand is failing to provide, it will never be able to stay top of mind to be recommended.

Budtenders expressed their desire to see brand reps more often and have meaningful conversations
when they are visiting the store. It is essential that the brand rep be the person in the cannabis store
that knows the most about that brand when they walk in. Budtenders appreciate sales reps that actually help them better serve their customers, not just branded talking points. They are thirsty for more information and welcome regular visits from their friendly brand rep.

#3 – Information on all Fronts

Information that helps them do their job is highly valuable to budtenders. From the latest Budtender
Study, one highly cited piece of information they seek is terpene profiles. They expressed appreciation
for brands that list terpene profiles on their products and called out specific interactions they had with
brands that included advanced education on terpenes. Budtenders list terpene profiles as one of the top drivers of their own personal purchases to trial products, so highlighting attractive terpene profiles is even a way to drive product sampling without the brand having to provide the product directly.

As the cannabis world grows, it seems to be outgrowing the terms “indica” and “sativa” when
determining the effects of a given cultivar. While brands have attempted to create their own schemas of experience, a growing group of knowledgeable cannabis users prefers terpene profiles as the best
marker of psychoactive experience. While scientists may still be figuring out if the high from cannabis is really “all about the terps,” these consumers seem to think so. As such, educated Canadian budtenders want to know more about terpenes so they can spread that knowledge to the customers they serve. The easier they can understand a product’s effects, the easier it is to recommend it to a consumer looking for that effect.

Beyond terpenes, budtenders are eager for in-store education that provides customers with
opportunities to learn on their own. They believe customers are most benefitted by digital screens,
posters, and shelf talkers. For talking with customers, budtenders enjoy being equipped with info cards and sell sheets. Any way a brand can use in-store collateral to make a budtender’s job easier, they are thankful for.

Brands that have budtenders on their side will be the ones to experience growth in the industry. The
brands irrelevant to cannabis store employees risk being forgotten by customers too. Keeping up with
the needs of budtenders allows brands to get their products regularly recommended by these uniquely influential individuals.