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Ontario, British Columbia, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island — where online sales of cannabis will go through government portals — as well as some private retailers in other provinces, are using Shopify for their e-commerce websites.

The company has spent months preparing for the first day of legal pot for adult use with the provincial entities and retailers using its e-commerce software, Padelford said.

The technology company has conducted a “tremendous” amount of testing on these cannabis stores, including mock checkouts, and will continue preparing until the sites go live at 12:01 a.m.

The portals will be largely similar to online shopping for other products, but there will be age-verification components and the cannabis sales portals will have educational information for consumers, he said.

Also, similar to online sales of alcohol in some provinces, there will be identification-checking and signatures needed upon delivery, and no unattended packages will be left at buyers’ doors.

Protocols will also be in place to protect buyers’ personal data, such as encryption and data storage requirements depending on the province’s privacy law, he added.

“There’s lots of attention being paid to the security of the data and ensuring that people’s private information isn’t shareable or easily accessed,” Padelford said.

Data privacy concerns in connection with cannabis have been heightened in light of recent comments from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency that marijuana users as well as those who work in the legal industry may face additional scrutiny when heading south of the border, where the drug remains federally illegal.

Meanwhile, the cannabis industry globally represents an opportunity for Shopify, as more countries warm up to the drug for medicinal and recreational purposes.

“This is really a global story right now. And we’re already working with international customers like Jamaica… We’re going to be excited on the 17th, but that’s just the beginning of how this market will go. We really think Canada is going to be the benchmark for the world.”

Companies in this story: (TSX:SHOP)