With recreational cannabis sales around the corner, distributors and producers alike are turning to Shopify to power their online pot dispensing platforms.
Gatineau’s Hydropothecary has tapped the Ottawa-based e-commerce giant for online cannabis sales, the cannabis producer announced Tuesday. In a release, the firm says that Shopify will help to build a platform to service medical cannabis customers, as well as provide information and support to recreational consumers.
Chief executive Sebastien St-Louis said in a statement that Shopify’s platform will help the company adapt to the changing layers of regulation around cannabis in Canada.
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“As we move into new markets, Shopify’s platform allows us to provide informed and engaging online experiences to new consumers, while giving us the flexibility to adapt to regulatory challenges and market variations from province to province,” he said.
Just last month, the Ontario’s publicly-run cannabis retailer tapped Shopify to handle its online orders as well, a move that lit a fire under the firm’s shares.
Social successes
Shopify (TSX:SHOP)(NYSE:SHOP) has found success elsewhere this week, especially on social media. Instagram announced on Tuesday that it would expand its Shopify-powered product tag on its platform across Canada. The social media giant launched the feature last year in the U.S., and will now expand the retail feature to Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Australia and the U.K.
Tuesday’s Instagram and Hydropothecary announcements saw Shopify’s shares jump $12 in trading on the TSX, an increase of roughly six per cent to $202. But by midday Wednesday the firm’s stock had lost most of the ground it had gained, trading at around $195.
Professional networking platform LinkedIn also announced this week that Shopify placed eighth in a list ranking the top 25 companies where Canadians wanted to work. Shopify has previously earned top honours for its workplace culture from Glassdoor, which ranked the firm as the top place to work in 2017.
On Monday, Shopify had more good news for users: merchants using the firm’s platform are now able to accept payment through the Google Pay platform. It also gives their customers an expedited checkout system, with shipping and payment info stored in users’ Google accounts and on their Android devices.
In summation: a good week so far for Shopify’s merchants, employees, billion-dollar partners and pot retailers.
