The cannabis industry was born from entrepreneurs who forged their own path. The path to success in cannabis is incredibly difficult with so many unknowns and is only made worse by continued changes to rules and regulations. Even though the industry is becoming more and more sophisticated, it is still young. It can be difficult to know where to start, what tools are available, and how to stay compliant. LeafLink’s mission is to power the cannabis business by making running a business easier and more efficient. The platform includes a suite of solutions ranging from a wholesale marketplace to fintech offerings, cannabis-focused banking, and more. With all these tools in one place, an operator can easily manage critical processes and get a holistic view of business operations.
Defining cannabis wholesale e-commerce
To power the cannabis business, LeafLink offers a reliable wholesale marketplace where operators can transact and interact more easily while managing their critical needs in one system. Thousands of brands and retailers rely on the platform every day to buy and sell products, but that’s just the starting point. Within the LeafLink platform, customers can also access a suite of tools specifically designed for the unique needs of cannabis businesses.
2024 marked a pivotal year for the company, expanding its product offerings and announcing significant acquisition news. After spending significant time speaking with cannabis operators and understanding the key issues they face, LeafLink has built an entirely new fintech offering that aims to combat late payments, a major problem in the industry.
This new product, called Cash on sale(PoST) guarantees payments from brands and reduces the need for retailers to raise large sums of money to buy in bulk. With PoST, retailers only pay when products are sold to the customer. rands benefit from guaranteed payments, in the form of automated weekly payouts. Additionally, both parties gain critical insights into sales data, helping to inform upstream product development, improve forecasting/ordering, and better planning. All of these benefits add up to a solution that helps businesses not only be more profitable and increase margins, but also operate more smoothly, using data to support their decisions. PoST is the third payment option LeafLink is rolling out with the goal of defining how cannabis businesses streamline operations, work more efficiently, and improve margins.
For retailers, LeafLink has also rolled out a new offering called LeafLink Plus. This new membership plan for retailers includes PoST as well as Inventory Insights, an all-new tool to help customers make smarter ordering decisions. Leveraging the knowledge of cannabis industry veterans at LeafLink and direct feedback from our customers, Inventory Insights integrates with a retailer’s point-of-sale (POS) system to analyze inventory and sales data , giving them actionable insights for better ordering decisions. With a LeafLink Plus subscription, retailers have actionable data they can use to increase their profit margins.
Dama Financial now part of LeafLink
Last July, LeafLink announced the acquisition of Dama Financialthe leading cannabis banking platform that empowers business owners with access to reliable, secure and compliant financial services. Dama allows businesses to access banking services, manage cash flow, and connect to payroll and credit providers, all in one easy-to-use interface. Due to federal prohibition, cannabis banking options are limited and often carry risks, hidden fees, or increased prices. It is common for operators to have their accounts closed due to the nature of their work in the cannabis industry, often without notice from the bank. With plans for future integration into the LeafLink platform, businesses need one less connection and can manage their finances in one place with peace of mind. This acquisition and integration will also help further streamline payments functionality for customers using LeafLink’s fintech and marketplace offerings.
In November, LeafLink also announced the acquisition of Leaf tradinganother wholesale market that primarily caters to large multistate operators (MSOs). This news marks another important step for the company in taking the cutting-edge tools developed by LeafLink and Leaf Trade and making them accessible to more businesses. Between the two companies, it is estimated that nearly $9 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) will be facilitated annually through their wholesale marketplaces.
Real-time success with PoST
Since its launch this summer, several cannabis companies have already implemented PoST and are reaping the benefits.
Six Labs, a Michigan-based company, has been using LeafLink’s PoST software since June and tracking the results. In just a few months, PoST has already helped them adjust SKUs to avoid overstocked inventory, use transactional data to replenish and scale order sizes to meet demand, and double sales of expired products to make room to new products. Read details here.
Bloom City, also based in Michigan, doubled its sales of expired products through a rebate strategy, freed up cash and experienced no out-of-stocks. All thanks to LeafLink’s PoST solution. Read details here.
Bringing it all together on one platform
As an emerging industry built on a federally banned substance, many of the processes companies rely on were built from scratch. However, as the industry changes and evolves, these processes sometimes become outdated and less efficient than they once were. LeafLink’s mission is to boost the cannabis business by creating new tools that solve these inefficiencies. In addition to its wholesale marketplace and financial services, LeafLink also offers a variety of other services that businesses can access. Since many operators operate with small teams, the goal of these offerings is to level the playing field and provide powerful tools to businesses of all sizes. With just one login, a business can sign up for advertising options, market insights, logistics support, and more.
2024 marked a major year for the industry and for LeafLink, 2025 is even more promising.