Verda Takes Industry by Storm | Launch Aligned with Ontario’s “Click and Collect” Model for Legal Cannabis Retail
Verda, a legal recreational cannabis e-commerce platform is leading the way as Ontario government adopts “click-and-connect” sales model, allowing users to place orders online or over the phone to reserve product for pick-up in store.
Announced Wednesday during the government’s fall economic statement, Finance Minister Rod Phillips proposed the changes and noted that this model is integral toward combating illicit market cannabis sales, and allowing better accessibility for the 25 existing cannabis retailers in Ontario.
“In an era where customers are used to an Amazon Prime experiences … anything the government can do to allow these legal markets to reach consumers on channels they’re already on is a step in the right direction,” — Rod elaborated.
Verda Innovations, coined as the first company in Canada to develop a legal cannabis delivery app is a cannatech startup from Waterloo, Ontario. All three founders are young entrepreneurs and share a passion to eliminate illicit cannabis and end underage use through technology. Built in compliance with the AGCO and with safety and convenience at the forefront of the user experience, Verda combines the safety and security of the legal market as well as the convenience of the illicit market.
Already live in provinces such as Saskatchewan, Verda will be launching their legal cannabis retailer directory web app with the ability to order online and pickup in-store alongside Ontario’s new regulatory model.
“It makes the legal market more consumer-friendly … but it would be that much better if they coupled that with the ability for stores to provide delivery services,” — said David Clement, Manager of North American affairs for the Consumer Choice Center.
Saskatchewan and Manitoba have already become testing grounds for same-day cannabis delivery, thanks to the provinces’ less regulatory retail regimes which allow private actors to operate online stores. Verda’s platform in these markets allow consumers to browse the inventory of retail stores online, choose their products and have their order delivered to their door within a few hours.
“Providing customers with a secure and legitimate way to place orders for their favourite legal cannabis products is super important to us,” — states Evan Adcock, Co-Founder & CEO of Verda Innovations.
Verda has been working closely with Governments in Canada to address the dominant concerns of safety, youth access, and eradicating illicit markets.
The young start-up readily awaits for Ontario to release a home-delivery regulatory model to fully roll out their platform. As soon as this happens, Verda will be ready to provide same-day home delivery for recreational cannabis retailers province-wide.
The government stated on Wednesday that it will amend legislation and provincial regulations to make the changes for the “Click and Collect” model, but has not given a timeline for when they will be put into effect.
This story was originally published on go.verda.com
