The marijuana industry has evolved immensely over the past few years since its legalization. Marijuana technology is gaining momentum from almost every angle. We can now receive products recommendations powered by AI that match our preferences. Besides this, people can now experience different products in virtual reality.
Before state-based legalization, medical marijuana dispensaries in Oakland had started showing the world how technology and cannabis production go hand-in-hand. With recreational marijuana and paraphernalia becoming legalized, R&D became much more streamlined and intensive.
From customer service to plant growth and harvesting, everything is changing in favor of customers. In this article, we will take a closer look at how technology is reshaping the marijuana industry and how it benefits you, the customer.
Table of Contents
How Cannabis Technology Is Reshaping the Future of the Marijuana Industry
The Marijuana Industry in Oakland is growing steadily as new opportunities continue to arise, pushing technological innovation and a need to be more efficient. Some key areas that have been pushed forward include:
Cannabis Customer Service
The global cannabis market has boomed immensely, with annual sales expected to gross over $75 billion by 2030. As more cannabis consumers turn up, the number of job opportunities is also increasing, with emerging roles like handlers, niche marketers, and customer service representatives.
Marijuana dispensaries are renewing their commitment to research and customer facilitation, highlighting its benefits to overall health. Since the industry is still new, the gold rush in the marijuana industry is all about ensuring impeccable service and benefits to clients.
Think about it; everyone has relatively similar products. From the flower to hemp products it creates and edibles, everyone is vying to compete for a bigger piece of the pie. The only way to differentiate yourself is via impeccable customer experiences.
Many marijuana dispensaries are also shaping customer experiences with high-tech interactive displays, catalogs, and more to facilitate decision-making. At the time of writing, recreational and/or medical marijuana is illegal in just five states:
- Idaho
- Wyoming
- Kansas
- Tennessee
- South Carolina
All others have either legalized it or allow CBD only. A large number of cannabis customers means that technological advancements are not only welcome but necessary for creating a seamless buying experience.
Marijuana Technology &Ease-of-Access
A time where one can pick up an eighth (3.5 grams) will be as easy as ordering food online isn’t very far away. This revolution started when COVID-19 pushed everyone into their homes, and marijuana dispensaries had to shut down.
Now, this has become a countrywide sensation, and the need to make marijuana more available is more than just a luxury.
Implementing e-commerce alone isn’t enough, though. Marijuana technology has made extensive use of AI and sales funnels, and business intelligence has allowed for more precise customer and product pairing. The new AI-based recommendation system isn’t just limited to making marketing decisions but also extends to helping with growing processes and strengthening the supply chain infrastructure. This is true for recreational and medical marijuana alike.
Marijuana Technology &Growing Efficiency
With the help of tailored LED lighting systems and AI-infused automation techniques, greenhouses and farms have become much more efficient. The precise and targeted growing processes have consolidated hundreds of individual factors into one. Decisions that previously took weeks or months now take only a few seconds.
Factors, such as humidity, temperature, light, fertilization, harvesting, and seeding, needed to be calculated with respect to the plant’s age, stage, and strain. To meet the increased demand, existing resources were used efficiently. These efficient production methods guaranteed high-quality products and minimized costs for farms and marijuana dispensaries in Oakland.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) algorithms have been implemented, which find specific patterns and make informed decisions accordingly. These algorithms monitor changes in circumstances and the environment constantly and facilitate decision-making while continuing to learn.
In short, the longer these algorithms work, the more accurate they become.
Cannabis Technology for Harvesting
Tech has shaped plant care, assisting farmers in making informed decisions about when to harvest, which buds to harvest, and which ones to leave for seeding. AI has decreased the margin for error that farmers face by up to 70% in just two years.
Imagine what it can do as we continue to develop the algorithms. We may even be able to predict the growth patterns and identify plant diseases long before they manifest!
Better Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Another benefit that the recent developments offer to the marijuana industry is that it can collect and analyze customer data to create tailored learning programs for employees. Budtenders can use this information to predict customer behavior and respond much faster to customer queries.
The development of dedicated CRM systems can be tailored to allow customers to make their own decisions as well via digital catalogs. Customers can simply make their order and have it delivered or pick it up from a dispensary.
While this may not seem like something new for e-commerce, the technology is relatively new for marijuana dispensaries as it allows customers to make custom orders as well. This concept is widely applied in edibles.
The CRM can further assist dispensaries in making smart, informed decisions about which product you need to make more of and where you can cut costs.
The Evolution Self-Dispensaries
Automated retail systems are gaining popularity in restaurants and supermarkets in the shape of self-serving kiosks. This marijuana technology allows customers to skip dispensary lines and make room for quicker transactions.
In fact, the industry is moving towards cannabis vending machines further increasing the convenience of scoring. You’ll be able to buy items like edibles, vapes, and blunts as if you were buying a can of Red Bull or snacks.
This ease of access gives rise to the possibility that we might move away from cannabis dispensaries completely!
The Ever-Innovating Marijuana Industry
There have been numerous studies on the recently legalized marijuana industry and the potential it holds. One definitive conclusion that almost every expert comes to is that traditional means of cannabis production, distribution, and sale will move towards more innovative means.
In fact, the chances are that with time, the industry will be able to hit convenience stores across the country as well. The industry’s uncertain future has one certainty; technology is about to reshape it as the use of automation, data analytics, and predictor models evolve. The shift towards a more streamlined industry for high-quality cannabis products is backed by R&D and foundations of a strong will to implement newer technologies.