2024 LeafLink Rolled
2024 Rolled is a celebration and analysis of everything that happened on LeafLink in the last year. Looking back at the year, check out 10 of our favorite things:
We proudly introduced Payment on Sell-Through (PoST), a first of its kind payment solution for the cannabis industry that allows retailers to pay for products as they sell them. With PoST, retailers are able to conserve working capital, reduce inventory carry risk, expand their selection of brands and products, and automate their accounts payable. Sellers gain increased visibility into sell-through, automated collections, and guaranteed payments.
In just a few months we’ve processed over $2MM worth of orders via PoST, improving cash flow and sell-through visibility for hundreds of buyers and sellers. We look forward to making PoST available to more states and operators next year.
In 2024, LeafLink expanded its offerings through strategic acquisitions to better support the cannabis industry through technology.
First, in July, LeafLink acquired Dama Financial, laying the groundwork for a future integrated banking solution, signifying a monumental step towards eliminating one of the most persistent hurdles facing cannabis operators: the lack of access to secure, reliable, and compliant financial services.
Then, in November, LeafLink acquired Leaf Trade, enabling LeafLink to support the full spectrum of cannabis businesses, from small brands and retailers to MSOs, with robust marketplace offerings and industry-leading tools.
Published LeafLink Retailer Academy, a content series that gives retailers a comprehensive understanding of the key factors that contribute to a successful retail operation, along with tools, tips, and insights to develop actionable strategies and maximize store profitability.
The first three units cover Understanding Consumer Demand, Budgeting & Forecasting, and Negotiation.
LeafLink beta tested Inventory Insights with select retailers in Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, and Oklahoma. This exciting new feature complements a procurement practice that’s geared toward keeping the right products in stock and increasing profitability.
Now available nationwide for our LeafLink Plus Members, Inventory Insights help cannabis retailers with category management — so they know what to buy, how much, and when, without all the spreadsheets. With Inventory Insights, number crunching of sales and profit margin data is automated, so retailers can make data driven inventory decisions, saving time, and cash. Businesses who subscribe to LeafLink Plus also get access to Payment on Sell-Through.
In December, we published the 5th edition of LeafLink List – the annual celebration of the amazing brands, retailers, and products from the LeafLink community that are shaping the future of cannabis. Winners spanned 192 operators from 13 states including 3 new markets, New York, New Mexico, and Maryland.
Additionally, in April, we published the 5th edition of the Wholesale Cannabis Pricing Guide, expanding the report to include an analysis of how pricing has changed at a national level and within 14 markets for 5 categories (cartridges, concentrates, flower, edibles/ingestibles and pre-rolls).
In December of 2024, LeafLink surpassed 6.3 million all-time transactions on the platform. Every year, over $5 billion worth of goods are facilitated on the wholesale marketplace. With the recent acquisition news of Leaf Trade, it’s estimated that the two companies will support nearly $9 billion in gross merchandise value annually.
The cannabis industry is small. Everyone knows everyone and that’s just one of the reasons it’s so unique. In 2024 our teams and executives hit the road, connecting with local cannabis industry operators in seven markets through informal happy hours. Our goal – hear directly from our customers on how we can improve and what we can build to make their lives easier. Check out the scene:
We improved our technology to help wholesalers get products in front of more retailers, and help retailers find the best products for their dispensaries.
1. For new brand launches and market expansion:
- New! A visual display ad banner on the dashboard. It’s the first thing buyers see when they login to LeafLink. Use this ad unit in your campaign to create brand name recall, and sustain awareness of your new brand or products!
- New! Offsite audience ads empower sellers to drive awareness on the websites of our 2M+ media partners. Keep your brand name top of mind while creating relationships with retailers.
2. For new product launches:
- New! Sponsor products in our new recommendation carousels, so they appear in the retailer’s shopping experience. Showcase the next product a dispensary should stock, with a sponsored product recommendation in the checkout, and the shopping pages. Add your product to the spotlight on the dashboard for extra visibility. Our algorithms will auto target the retailers most likely to buy to help you drive conversions.
- New! Our new self-service Ads Manager enables sellers to setup, edit, and manage your ad campaigns. Now in beta with select sellers, and coming to more markets in 2025! (Talk to your Account Manager if you’d like early access to this new LeafLink experience.)
3. For building brand loyalty:
- New! Two new organic carousels showcase the brands and products a retailer purchased from in the past 60 days. These help create brand name recall.
Whichever part of your wholesale funnel needs a boost, LeafLink can help!
👀 Pro Tip: Embed your public menu link into emails, websites, and everywhere you promote your products to drive more wholesale traffic to your LeafLink menu. Save your sales and ops teammates time on creating purchase orders! Empower retailers to place orders 24/7/365.
Our teams are constantly looking to improve our platform and we’re always open to customer feedback. In 2024, the teams put in the hours to roll out 9+ UX improvements to make using LeafLink that much easier. Improvements included a simpler way to shop, new seed to sale compliance workflow updates, updates to payments flows, and more.
Check out the full list of UX improvements, features launches, and more on our quarterly LeafLink Insider blog posts (Q1, Q2, Q3).
Brands on LeafLink can now use social identity badges to showcase their unique identity and increase visibility. In turn, retailers can use social identity filters to find communities and brands they want to support. These 10 new badges include women-owned, black-owned, veteran-owned, and more.
Currently more than 190 brands have enabled identity badges. The top badge adopted and searched for is “women-owned”. Go get ’em ladies!
And that puts a wrap on 2024 – we are excited to see where 2025 takes us! Keep an eye on our blog to stay up to date on everything happening.
Not on LeafLink yet? If you’re a seller, request a demo. If you’re a retailer, sign up for free!