As consumer sales in the cannabis sector grow exponentially, business owners within the space are navigating a number of complications like banking, security and the overarching uncertainty at the federal level. So, as this once illicit trade becomes transparent, cannabis business owners are looking for niche operators who understand their particular concerns.
One ancillary service that is often overlooked is marketing and advertising. For most large marketing firms, cannabis can be intimidating with mercurial laws that change state to state. In addition, the usual tactics on social media are not an available tool to these firms, which may cause many to pass on working with viable cannabis brands. One would think with total cannabis sales to increase 25% this year, working with a cannabis company would be a slam dunk, but this is hardly the case.
Instead, many cannabis operators are turning to cannabis-focused advertisers like Leafbuyer Technologies, Inc.
Consumers typically land on Leafbuyer via Google or another search engine, then peruse its database of dispensaries on its website or mobile app for hyperlocal deals per company analytics. On the otherside of the coin, vendors engage consumers through a robust 24/7 real-time dashboard that allows updates on menus, specials and store information.
As a full-service advertiser in this complex but grow sector, the company has been in high demand as evidenced by their announced quarter-over-quarter increase of 68% in booked revenues. LBUY has attributed these solid increases to national expansion and high profit margins for bundled packages on the site.
Furthermore, the company has made improvements to its point of sale technology – which also helped boost these numbers – when they acquired Greenlight Technologies and their proprietary platform in November.
“This announcement of record-setting growth follows the Company’s major industry moves, including the launch of both the Leafbuyer Wallet and Leafbuyer Loyalty, as well as the acquisition of California-based, order-ahead application Greenlight in the last quarter,” said Mark Breen, COO of Leafbuyer. “Our cannabis dispensary and product customers see the exceptional value in the services we offer, and we will continue to diversify our platforms to more thoroughly serve their needs.”
“Our national footprint continues to widen as we promote our services in all legal markets across the United States and Canada,” said Kurt Rossner, CEO of Leafbuyer. “Our revenue grows as the time-saving and valuable benefits we implement continue to evolve and our sales and marketing resources expand.”
LBUY’s stock has been the subject of much dissection – which might be a point of warning for some shrewd investors – as the stock erupted in September due to the mention of blockchain in a press release. The stock had previously been trading horizontal with not much volatility, but this simple word caused it trade $3 million in a day. LBUY quickly became a case study in the blockchain craze and after the stock returned to normal levels, it was quickly forgotten (even though the company did actually make good on their announcement by using blockchain technology to create a Leafbuyer wallet that will soon be linked to a cryptocurrency as well as creating a decentralized marketplace for their customers).
However, the fundamentals of the Denver-based company deserve attention as revenues are growing as the company has very minimal market penetration in recently legal states like California, Nevada and Massachusetts. Beyond that, Leafbuyer has strong data to show that the product is working with 25% of offers being redeemed and a client retention rate of 90%.
