This definition fails to capture the enormous impact as data drives so much of the world we know today and predicts the future we’ll have tomorrow.
By crystallizing connections between data points and providing valuable input on processes, data can support your business in several areas, including strategizing, optimizing, identifying problems, planning, and reporting.
Like alcohol and pharmaceuticals, cannabis is a controlled substance, which requires strict regulation and compliance to ensure that the products coming to market are safe.
Although there are many purported and potential medicinal benefits of cannabis, the unfortunate consequence of the substance being illegal for so long is that it became an illicit-market item.
Had they used seed-to-sale tracking technology, the FDA, producers, and retailers could potentially have been able to trace the exact trail of contamination and remove all related and potentially infected offerings from shelves to protect consumers.
To ensure cannabis products meet safety standards and prevent issues like the uncontrolled lettuce E.coli outbreak, regulatory officials in the legal cannabis industry require strict compliance systems that prove transparency across the supply chain.
Cannabis businesses also have a responsibility to consumers, who are increasingly becoming more conscious about what they are putting in and on their bodies.
Through digestible data analytics, brands can derive actionable insights into consumers and increase their sales and brand recognition.
Data can show brands trends in customer preferences, or even consumption, which can help inform how brands craft their offerings.
Brands must consider the nuances and the ever-evolving consumer trends when creating, marketing and selling products.
Without this information, such as backed-up data for each step in the supply chain, operators risk duplicating costly efforts and falling out of compliance in any given market.
In the past, when cannabis markets were more fragmented and siloed from state to state, individual operators could get by with “check the box” compliance solutions.
Early 2020 saw a crash in cannabis stocks and a subsequent spike in cannabis sales as the pandemic continued.
Technology plays a vital role in providing transparency and accountability that enables businesses, governments and consumers to have confidence in how the legal, regulated cannabis industry works safely.