Buffalo-based internet marketing firm Range Marketing is combining forces with Santa Cruz’s Jane Technologies (iHeartJane) to redefine the online footprint of the cannabis industry. In a recent podcast interview, the CEOs of both companies discussed their vision for the future of the cannabis industry and how entrepreneurs across the country can thrive in a growing online ecosystem.
Socrates Rosenfeld, CEO of Jane Technologies, Inc. commented “[iHeartJane] didn’t just see the opportunity to come into the cannabis industry and copy what was going on in other industries. We saw it as an opportunity to actually build something bespoke, specifically for this industry… We’ve invented a technology that these small businesses can just plug in and use. They don’t have to worry about building software or anything like that.” Rosenfeld’s company provides online menus, e-commerce checkout, and automated stock management for cannabis dispensaries. The iHeartJane.com marketplace also aggregates product availability by location and helps consumers discover new dispensaries when shopping for specific products.
Range Marketing’s expertise is in website development and customer acquisition, with an emphasis on earning top positioning for their clients in search results. Spencer Rubeck, CEO of Range Marketing explained “We drive leads. That’s what we do. We didn’t develop our technology on SKU system management and what’s converting, that’s kind of outside our wheelhouse. As we developed our growth in the cannabis industry, it was very natural to find [iHeartJane] who already had that in place… That was a piece of the industry that was missing for a while and Jane just crushed it.”
The two companies are now launching a crossover product that allows dispensaries to seamlessly launch a custom website, integrate e-commerce checkout, attract traffic from search engines, and automatically keep their online menus up to date. During the podcast, the pair of tech CEOs discussed how complex it can be to launch a new brick and mortar dispensary, which leaves little time for meeting the online expectations of today’s consumer. “I owned an e-cigarette store and I know the pains of starting. The last thing I thought about, truthfully, was my website. I was worried about the signage, inventory management, personnel, etc” noted Rubeck.
Watch The Full Interview Here:
When asked why existing technologies like Yelp and DoorDash hadn’t found their way into cannabis, Rosenfeld explained “The average dispensary carries 500 SKUs on their store shelf and 50% of those SKUs change over week-in and week-out. You can’t just scrape a menu… Compared to the restaurant industry where menus don’t change, cannabis is more of a retail item with stock levels.” He also expressed disapproval over the way big tech arrived into restaurants, concluding that in many cases the restaurants weren’t receiving their fair share. He enthusiastically explained “This is an opportunity to shape the [cannabis] industry the right way, to create win-win opportunities, to provide legitimacy and transparency, to empower small businesses to understand and step into the digital world.” Rubeck followed with “I’ve been a business owner for a long time, I’ve tried many different things. This is a business where I can help businesses.”
