Point of Sale Software in the Cannabis Industry – Which Vendors are Leading the Pack?

Guest post by Ed Keating, Co-Founder and Chief Data Officer at Cannabiz Media

Which point-of-sale software vendors have the largest market share in the cannabis industry? Cannabiz Media set out to answer that question with a recent study and is releasing the results in a new white paper: Point of Sale Software in the Cannabis Industry: Which Vendors are Leading the Pack? You can download the white paper here.

Using a convenience sampling method, Cannabiz Media’s team of researchers gathered data from 1,460 active dispensaries and retailers nationwide through multiple phone calls and email follow-ups. The team estimates that it reached 50% of the licensed market as of October 26, 2018.

This research will continue on an ongoing basis as license holders change vendors, pending licenses become active, and new states come online. The data included in this study (and much more) is built into the enhanced data feature within the Cannabiz Media License Database.

Key Findings

Based on its primary research, Cannabiz Media discovered 44 unique point-of-sale software vendors in the cannabis industry, including proprietary software (for license holders that have a custom solution) and non-standard choices like Square and Intuit’s QuickBooks.

5 Vendors Account for 80% of the Market

Cannabiz Media discovered that just five point-of-sale software vendors account for 80% of the cannabis industry market share. Those five vendors are:

BioTrack: 28%

Green Bits: 26%

Flowhub: 12%

MJ Freeway: 8%

Adilas: 5%

Taking this data a step further, the top 10 point-of-sale software vendors make up 93% of the market.

1 Vendor Dominates Medical-Only States

In states where only medical marijuana is allowed (not adult-use), one point-of-sale software vendor holds the majority market share. That company is BioTrack with a 53% market share – nearly twice that of the second-largest vendor in terms of market share in medical-only states, MJ Freeway, which has a 29% share.

2 Vendors Appear in the Top 5 for Medical-Only and Adult-Use States

Of all 44 point-of-sale software vendors and solutions cited by active and licensed cannabis retailers and dispensaries, only two appear in the top five for both medical-only and adult-use states: BioTrack and Green Bits.

One State Wonders are Common in California

Some of the popular point-of-sale software vendors in California appear nowhere else in Cannabiz Media’s research, which poses the question: Are they “one state wonders” with plans to migrate to other states? The 131 retailers in California that the Cannabiz Media team has already spoken to for the purposes of this study cited 18 point-of-sale software vendors. Two of the top five vendors (and four of the top 10 vendors) are one state wonders. In total, seven of the 18 vendors qualify as one state wonders.

Discover More Insights and Data in the Full White Paper

Download the full white paper to get all of the insights and data, including:

The complete list of 44 point-of-sale software vendors in use

Nationwide market share details

Medical-only states market share details

Adult-use states market share details

METRC states market share details

Proprietary solution details

Non-standard solutions details (including Intuit’s current market share with its Quickbooks solution)

Of course, if you have any questions about the white paper or data, don’t hesitate to contact the Cannabiz Media team. Remember, the data included in this study (and much more) is built into the Cannabiz Media License Database, which you can see in action by scheduling a free demo!

About the author:

Ed Keating is a co-founder of Cannabiz Media and oversees our data research and government relations efforts. He has spent his whole career working with and advising information companies in the compliance space. Ed has overseen complex multijurisdictional product lines in the securities, corporate, UCC, safety, environmental and human resource markets and focuses on workflow products. Ed has spent the last twenty five years in the information industry. During that time he has worked for both startup and established information companies where he has led marketing, product management and sales organizations. These companies include Wolters Kluwer/Commerce Clearing House, CT Corporation, EDGAR Online and Business & Legal Reports.

At Cannabiz Media, Ed enjoys the challenge of working with regulators across the country as he and his team gather corporate, financial, and license information to track the people, products and businesses in the cannabis economy. Ed graduated from Hamilton College and received his MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University. He has been active with the Software & Information Industry Association for his whole career and managed the Content Division for six years.

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