September 25, 2024 • 35 mins
Join us as Jack Blaeser, Founder, CEO, and Board Director of Mosaic, dives deep into how technology is revolutionizing the cannabis dispensary experience. Discover the role of mobile apps, data analytics, and integrated digital solutions in shaping the future of cannabis retail. From enhancing customer loyalty to leveraging AI for personalized shopping, learn how Mosaic is helping dispensaries optimize operations and customer engagement. Don't forget to subscribe for more insights into the cannabis industry's technological evolution!
Jack is founder and serves as Mosaic’s Chief Executive Officer and Board Director for Mosaic, a company that helps dispensaries get digital right by providing the market’s first all-in-one branded app , payments and loyalty platform.
Webiste: https://mosaic.green/
===================
About Cannabinoid Connect
Thought-provoking discussions, expert insights, and captivating stories shaping the future of this transformative industry.
Subscribe and follow via the following platforms:
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
321. Cannabinoid connect,
the nation's most diverse cannabisrelated podcast.
All right.
It looks like we are recording.
Jack, welcome to the podcast.
(00:20):
It's great to have you.
Hey, Kevin. Thanks.
Thanks for having me on your show.Appreciate it.
Yeah, absolutely.
I'm, I'm really looking forwardto talking to you today about mosaic.
Am I saying that right?
Mosaic. Yep.
Mosaic. Mosaic is.
You bring together lots of differentpieces, and you make a beautiful,
piece of art or something,and that's a bit of what we do.
(00:42):
I love it, I love it. Thrown in the brand.
Meaning it has purpose.
It has a great message.
So, Yeah, you're the founder,the CEO and board director.
And before we get into mosaic,I understand
you've served as board directorfor a number of different companies.
So tell me a little bitabout your background
and what got youinto the cannabis industry.
(01:02):
Yeah.
You know, I,
for the last 20 yearsor so, I've been raising capital,
starting businesses, helpingother businesses around technology,
and really trying to innovate and disruptin a good way.
Industries help industriesleverage technology to,
you know, help businessesbe more successful.
So, that's what I've enjoyed.
That's what I've been doing.
(01:23):
And across a wide variety of areas.
But I did about ten years ago,I made an investment in cannabis
and started to watch and lookat the industry a little bit more closely.
The legal industry and how that wasevolving relative to the illicit industry.
And notice a few things.
First thing you noticed, this man.
That's hard.
I mean, these companies in this industrywith trade and everything, they've got
(01:46):
their hands tied behind their backand such a challenge,
you know, how do you compete?
And then you got to competeand sell illicit market
that doesn't have those challenges.
And it's a lot cheaper right.
So that's the first thing.
And the second thing I gravitated tobecause my background
is technology and just taking a look,you know, a few things I saw.
One was technology was really very simple.
(02:07):
I call it rudimentary and
fragmented.
And so that made it hard for cannabisoperators, especially around
retail, to be successful.
But I also saw companiesget in there like Gene Dutch
and be very successful initially. Right.
So there was a real good opportunityfor companies to come in and help these,
these cannabis operators be,
be more successful and have the same toolsthat other industries have.
(02:30):
So that's what mosaic is all about,trying to bring some of those capabilities
and help, the industry be successful.
That's great.
And I love that
you mentioned your passion for technology,because I think that's a great segue.
And a good way to kickthis conversation off is to kind of
just lay the groundwork and talk aboutthe evolution of cannabis dispensaries.
(02:50):
So, I think it's been it's been 12 years,right, since Colorado went legal.
So we've had 12,12 years of kind of evolution.
So what have you seen, in termsof how technology is transforming the
cannabis dispensary experience from onlineordering to in-store operations?
Yeah.
So, it's been interesting to watch,and I think it's kind of lagging
(03:14):
some of the other industriesoutside of cannabis.
But, you know, back ten years ago or so,it was all about the store
and store experience.
You know, and that's still very important.
But, Covid hit.
And when that came, there was an immediateneed for dispensaries to find a way
and in other industries,but for dispensaries
found a way to be ableto take those orders.
(03:36):
Remotelyand have people come and pick it up.
So that really injected,new technologies, new startups,
that were very successfuland solving that need.
And, and now we're evolving to a pointwhere
I think, you know, the technologiesthat are out there for the,
for the large part are still fairly,you know, they're built for that period.
And if you look outside the industry,which you'll hear me say all the time
(03:59):
to a Starbucks, for example,or a chick fil A, you know, their brand,
their app, their online menu,the loyalty and the payments all in one.
That mobile experience works for them.
And that's that's whatthat's what cannabis needs.
And that's what mosaic is bringing,is the ability for a dispensary or an MSO
to have their own branded Starbucks likedigital experience for their customers,
(04:20):
and ability to deliver that in a very costeffective manner, say, $500
per location. So, so we're in that period.
But if you start to look forward,
you start to see what's happeningin other industries, or you can start
to see I play a role and that'swhere it's going to get really exciting.
The ability to really startto leverage the data and machine
(04:40):
or AI,to personalize the experiences online.
And that's all key, Kevin, because,
you know, outside of this industry,for example, Starbucks, over
50% of their revenues, their salescome from their app and their loyalty
and same thing with our best customers.
You know, they're doing 60%or more, online or through digital.
So it's kind of a key must have.
(05:02):
But it's also somethingyou really need to have
a good experience to, to be competitiveand successful in this industry.
Sure, sure.
Well, let's dive a bit deeperinto those key innovations you touched on.
You know, from in-store to cashlesspayments,
online preorders, you know,other type of digital loyalty programs.
And then you even mentionedthe emergence of AI.
(05:22):
So briefly touch on kind of each of those.
But if you want to dive further intoI am very interested because,
the data has been there, right?
We've had the data, but it seems likeAI is going to really help
in terms of like automating the personal,personalized experience
instead of the humantrying to kind of segment
those customer types of,yeah, there's a lot of depth here.
(05:44):
You just mentioned three key things.
I'm gonna try to remember themin that order and quickly cover them.
We can dive in.
You know, the first is that digitalexperience of online ordering.
So the first thing isthere's many ways to order right.
Digitally.
There's there's an online menuwhich is typical for most dispensaries.
There's an app, 88.7%
of our dispensary customers are usersare on their mobile phone.
(06:06):
So it's pretty relevant to have an app.
And that may dispensaries do.
And then there's kiosks in the store.
And then there's some other digital mean.
So to make sure that is a good experienceand make sure it's consistent across
all three,
it's tough to do in the campus spacebecause you're using
using different providersfor those services.
So that's the first aspectyou start to think about,
(06:27):
what's happeningthere and the importance to it.
And then you start to look at,you know, I,
and what I is going to play inthe role is going to play.
And data is a big part of that.
So when you look at the data piece,there's a big gap currently.
And that is the visibilityto what people are doing through digital.
(06:48):
So today, believe it or not,most dispensaries, most MSOs,
most brands in this industrydon't get the data.
They don't see the data,
of what's happening online,the online menu or the app.
And that's
because the architectures that are usingthat most dispensaries are using
for their online menu, for example,
is an older technology,and it blocks a lot of that data.
(07:09):
So we mosaic, we make all of that visible.
So the first big challengeis to make sure that you have data,
and you can see the data and you can startto analyze it and understand it.
And that's important.So now you can see all those clicks right.
What are people clicking.
And what I like to tell people is it's
the in-storeexperience is great for dispensary.
You go in a store, bartendersthere, they usually know their stuff.
(07:31):
You have that exchange,but they're not taking notes
so they don't know what you'retalking about.
No one else is really knowing, you know,
what products you're talking aboutand which ones you end up buying or not.
But the data that's available onlinewhen people are online or in and out.
Again, remember 60 for gooddispensary, 60% of it is online, digital.
That data is telling you everything.
It's telling youwhat what products are people
(07:52):
looking at, their clicking,how much time they spent
on each productcompared to the other product.
Then do they put in a cart
and then do they actually buy itwhen they put it in the cart?
That product, everything's there.
That data in other industries is goldand companies use that very effectively.
So one is getting data, getting visibilityand having access to it.
And that's one thing mosaic provides
(08:13):
and one thingthat is lacking in this industry.
And then the third component is the AI.
And we know that, you know, everyone'sgoing crazy about AI, and what it can do.
But it's a very simple basisto start with in this industry,
if you've got the data,then you can just start to be
you can start to be smartwith how you interact
in an automated way with your customers.
(08:34):
As a dispensary, it'sthe software can do it.
And what that means isthe software will know who you are
and what your profile is.
So male, female or whatever,and you know where you live
and how much you boughtand what you bought,
and then it will knowwhat everybody else does
so it can compare you with everyone else,what their likes and dislikes aren't.
And then based uponall of that information across,
(08:54):
you know, thousands, tens of thousands,many users,
you'll be able to startto personalize the menu
so the menu looks different for youthan someone else.
You'll start to be able to send,
certain offers
or, or targeted communicationsto those users.
And those will be meaningful, messageswith contexts
that are that, that a user can receiveand will make them
(09:18):
make better decisions, by the practicebetter fit for them and
for dispensary buy more of that productand more often, most likely.
So there's so much therejust to get started with AI and
and then, you know, that's just the start
with what data and AI is going to provide,not just for cannabis, but,
you know, it's going to change the world.
It's just a matter of how quicklythat's going to happen.
And I think it's going to happenquicker than people think.
(09:39):
Right. It's fascinating.
I mean, just the examplesyou shared there and like you mentioned,
we're just scratching the surfacewith AI and all that it can do.
And it's already blowingmost people's minds.
Right.
And so
and another thing that you touched onthat I couldn't agree more with, and it's
even a huge, issue outside of the cannabisindustry is the fragmented data, right?
(10:00):
It's the lack of integration among various
software solutionswhere these systems aren't
talking to each otherand a lot of the data is is piecemeal.
You got to pull it from here,you got to pull it from there.
And it's it's pretty coolthat, mosaic is tackling that issue.
And so I think this is a good partwhere we, you know, talk about how,
(10:21):
mosaic is helping dispensaries basicallybuild a branded digital experience, right?
Developtheir own branded e-commerce platforms,
and why having full controlof a digital storefront matters.
Yeah.
Great question.
So, Kevin, the first aspectof how mosaic is different,
(10:42):
you go back to how it's fragmented today.
So if you're a dispensary or MSO,you're buying,
it's typically you have a platform,like you said for e-commerce,
another one for loyalty,maybe something else for an app,
maybe something else for, for forfor consolidating your data and analytics.
You have all these different platforms.
You got to pull them together.
So what mosaic has doneis to basically pull
(11:02):
your digital customer experience andall of those platforms together into one.
And as a result,we're able to provide customers
or dispensaries their ownbranded Starbucks like experience.
So that's their own branded app,their own branded online menu.
The kiosks, all the loyalty, the rewards,ability to do marketing and CRM,
as well as integrated paymentsinto a seamless experience.
(11:25):
And for the dispensary owner, it's greatbecause one
you're managing one platform, two, it'sbringing all the data together.
Now you can leverage that dataas we're talking about, three.
It's much more cost effective.
It's a lot less expensive.It's probably a third of the cost.
And what they pay for this,you know, bringing everything together.
But that's what we do,is bring it all together, make it easier
(11:45):
and simplify and give an experiencethat customers are used to
in other industries that they love, inother industries that is proven to work,
that we know drives more frequentspending, higher average order values.
And then you just
then you start to tap in the dataand then you to get smart around it.
So, that's what mosaic does.
And that's what makes us different.
I think that's the gapthat we're filling today in this industry.
(12:08):
Yeah.
And I mean, you've clearly statedit's important
to create a branded digital experienceto, to stay competitive, right?
So, in your position,can you share some examples of how
dispensaries can differentiate themselvesor are differentiated
themselves through this digitalbranding and user experience?
(12:29):
Yeah.
And there's many most dispensariesare using what's called iframe platforms.
And that means that their look feelsall the same.
It's always a white background,it's always the same template.
And it's very difficult to brandhave any of your brand in that experience.
So you'll want to dispensary online.
You go to another one.
It's a it's the same experience.
So from the very get go,you know, what mosaic enables you to do is
(12:51):
have your brand reflect that.
You know, it'sall of your marketing assets,
colors, logos, fontsthroughout the whole online experience.
And as I said before, not just the menu,
but we give you the app,we give you the kiosk.
And that's all a very similar experience,which is important
if you're a customer,
you don't want to go onlineand then use an app
and it looks a little bit differentor a lot different.
So. So that's the first that's probablythe first thing you can do.
(13:13):
The second is especially
because we own the online e-commercepiece of it, but we also on the loyalty.
Now we're able to kind of send messagesin a personalized manner.
So if you're a user, you know, one, one,one I might be seeing offers,
for me that are trying to get me to buymy first product because I just signed up.
(13:35):
Or Kevin, if you were a userand you've been a user, and
as a registered user for this dispensaryfor six months, it was your birthday.
You might be getting a birthday discount
and you might be getting a discounton certain products,
or because you're on tiertwo or tier three,
you're getting the special discounts,or you're getting discounts on products
that people don't seethat are on tier one.
So you're very,you know, you're very unique and special.
(13:56):
And that's from a brandperspective, important
because now everything has context.
Everything is relativeto more of your interest.
And, it'smore meaningful to the to the user.
And that helps your brand.
And then we're doing another things where,you know, you can actually have video
built into that experience, onlineor in your app.
And I think we're the only onesdoing that.
(14:18):
And, you know, the more professionalthe experiences, the more unique it is.
That just enhances your brand.
So those are just some quick examples.
But, you know, in today's world,I would suggest,
you know, if you're doing a good job,over 50% of your
of your revenues,your sales are going to come online.
And therefore it's important.
That's a good experience.
And therefore you want thatto reflect your brand.
(14:38):
And therefore you want thatto also reflect the in-store experience.
So to be able to tieall those together is important.
But most technology today and cannabisdon't really enable you to do that.
So that that that's key to success.
And it's becoming table stakes.
You know more and more as we move forward.
Right.
Well,and staying along the lines of building
long term relationshipswith cannabis consumers,
(15:00):
I would imagine, I mean, what you've laidout like that's the playbook, right?
Various waysmosaic can help with loyalty programs
and be successfulin driving repeat business.
But there's got to be challengesalong the way, right?
So maybe talk about some ofthose challenges that you frequently
see with, with various, dispensariesand then how how they can overcome
(15:22):
and then keep it positive.
Also maybe talking aboutthe opportunities as well.
Yeah.
I mean, the first challengeI think we run into is that dispensaries
have so much on their plate and, you know,they don't have a tremendous amount
of resource.
And we talked about the fact that
financially, it's a very big challengebecause they got all this overhead and
therefore you can have a general manageror a manager in a dispensary.
(15:44):
They're doing everything.
So how do they one knowhow to use the tools.
Not just our tools, but any tools.
Across the full spectrumof what they need to manage
and how do they use it effectively?
And then how do I just find time to do it?
That's a big challenge.
We'd like to think that we try to simplifyand make that easier by giving them
(16:04):
for everything that's digitalcustomer experience into one platforms,
and learningand managing 5 or 3 platforms.
You've got one.
It's very easy to do.
That helps, but it's still a challenge.
I mean, they've got so much on their plateand it's so hard.
So, you know, what we try to do is help.
We try to give white glove treatment.
We try to we've got this great playbookthat kind of gives an instructional guide
about not only how to use it,
(16:25):
but you know, how you can doother marketing things to,
build your brand, to engage and, drivemore loyalty.
So we try to give them more tools.
And, you know, we're still a relativelyearly as a business, so we're still trying
to, find ways to help even furtheras we go forward.
But that's the number big.
That's the big challenge,I think, is, is that.
(16:46):
And then I'd say the second challengeand you touched on
it, Kevin is building a brand
because it's a competitive landscapefor these cannabis retail operators.
And if you all lookthe same, people are buying in price.
And if you're all just kind of discountingeverything at once,
you're losing margin.
So the ability to be smart about itand discount in a smarter way,
ability to reflect your brand better,
(17:07):
have a better customer experiencethat helps them at the end as well.
But it's kind of a catch 22 because
how do you find the timeto get the right technologies in place
to learn those technologies, andthen do that marketing and leverage them?
Well, you've got so many different firesgoing on, and you just don't
have the resources to, to, to throw at it.
So that's really the big challenge,that I see outside of the financial,
(17:30):
you know, landscapethat they've got to manage.
Yeah.
I mean, you mentionedthat mosaic is is fairly new in the game.
So how long have you all been aroundand what what's the origin story?
Everybody loves a good founder's story.
So no pressure.
Yeah.
We've been around just overtwo and a half years, and,
we are, very much a productled company in the sense that,
(17:54):
you know, we put a lot of resourceand team into the product,
and we have over
two and a half years,
and we
continue to enhance what we have built,because what we built in many ways is
three times
more than what our competitors have,because we're not just doing e-commerce
and we're doing that,but we're doing the app,
we're doing loyalty rewardsand bring payments together.
So we're doing a lot more.
And we'd like to think it's very,it's engineered in a very,
(18:18):
tight, effective manner.
So a lot of that, that time goes into it.
In terms of the story. Kevin.
Yeah.
I mean, it's probably not as excitingas some of the others, but,
yeah, I mean, didn't happen in a garage.
It didn't happen in your basement or,
well, we're still scrappy company.
We're not like some of the big players.
We haven't raised $100 million.
(18:38):
We've been very cost efficient.
So we're scrappy in that sense. But,
I've done this before,and I saw an opportunity,
like I said, to invest ten years ago,look at the industry.
And then three years ago,maybe a little bit more, say,
you know, we can really help this industryand I know exactly where.
And this is space.
I know this technology. So,
the playbook was there Starbucks,chick fil A.
(19:00):
Just look at other industries.
They figured it out,
obviously spent hundreds of millionsof dollars to get to where they are.
But they figured it out.
So all we need to do is helpbuild that for cannabis.
And as a result,we could do it for others.
I love doing that.
I've been able to do thata few other times.
So, you know, that's what got me into it.
And you know what?
It's been a thrill because thisI've been in many other industries,
(19:23):
insurance, telco, finance, this industry.
So awesome.
The people are great there.
You know, it's a new industry.
So it's got a lot of challenge. But,
it's exciting in that sense.
There's opportunityas well as the challenge that's there.
But the culture, the people, how it'sso different than everything else.
So that's beenthat's been a blast to be part of.
(19:46):
So, the ability to come in and hopefullyhelp these businesses be successful,
move business from the illicit market,educate people
that, they haven't used before or startingto learn about the benefits of it,
or transitioning from, say, alcoholor addictive drugs into something
that's going to be better for them,more healthy.
(20:06):
It's kind of motivating every dayto, to take a look at that.
So yeah, so,
so I'm excited and what I'm doing,I kind of saw a plan, jumped into it.
I probably wish I had a better story.
I could make up a better story,but I think that's a great story, Jack,
I really do.
And the reason I say that is because toyour point about how exciting the cannabis
industry is, I mean, I've said this overand over on the podcast where
(20:30):
it's it's bringing togetherso many different people
that have so many different skillsets and, and experience.
Right.
And with one like minded kind of goal.
And that is to advance the accessibilityand movement of this plan.
Right.
Of, of, of, you know, consumers getting,getting to be able to access it.
(20:51):
And so you and your backgroundjust having started
and founded other businessesand having that
strong technology background,I mean, it's an asset.
And, if this is an industrywhere you're going to pivot
and try to solve and a problemthat's I think that's very welcome.
For, for most people.
So, it's it's a good story.
(21:13):
Don't don't beat yourself up on that.
Kevin, with your quick story.
My story is that I've been a consumer
for since,
I just outside of high school.
So all through college, consumedafter my wrestling career is really
when I started consuming.
And I just love the plantand what it does for me personally.
(21:35):
And when the pandemic hit, you know,it was an opportunity
where I figured I'm goingto throw my hat in the into the ring
and see what I can do in terms of addingvalue from the conversation perspective.
At the time, there weren'ttoo many podcasts and there wasn't
a lot of educationaround, the cannabis plant.
(21:55):
And not only right on the consumer side,but the medical benefit.
Right.
The, the agricultural and industrial,
benefitsof what you can basically do with hemp.
So I thought, hey, this is a winwin, you know, and people are going to be
maybe a little uncomfortable at firstwhen I came out of the cannabis closet.
But I just believe that there's no goingback.
(22:18):
We're only going to progress, you know?
So that's that's my quick story.
You're right.
And that's actually another challengethat that,
that I really believe is out there.
You know, the low hanging fruitis, is for dispensary or cannabis is to go
after the users who kind of knowcannabis that want to buy it. And,
the real opportunity is kind of shiftingand getting well.
(22:39):
The people are really stuckin that illicit market
because it's cheaperor they've got their buddy there.
They buy from getting them to transition.
But then the people who eitherthere was a stigma
or now because it's legalthat they're more willing to
to step in and more importantly,just understand it, people,
when you're doing the podcast, greatpeople don't understand cannabis, right?
And if you get to the non buyers today,but the ones that might want to buy
(23:02):
the ones that have, you know, painand it could help them with that
or any medical conditionthat might help them with or,
or just might again replace alcohol or,you know, some addictive drug that,
you know, so many opportunities to reallyhelp people, they just don't know.
So the lack of education.
So how do you how do you educate people?
How do you try to transition peoplefrom illicit to legal and high transition?
(23:26):
More importantly, everybody elsethat is a big audience that, you know,
if they knew what they could door how would it help them.
And some of them want to figure it out,
but they just don't knowhow to figure it out.
How do you get them in the fall to,so that that's, that's
that's something I'd see dispensariessometimes missing marketing to.
Maybe they're smart because the holy molyfruit is what gets the business going.
(23:46):
But how do you tap into those people?
In some ways,
we think mosaic can help,because if you've got
that digital experience like Starbucks,
it's going to make it easier for peopleto dip their toe in.
Check that out.
The couple with that kind of experience,maybe they go by and go pick it up,
make it a little bit easier,but you're hitting on that.
That's a big gap in the industry.
Yeah.
And I think with with what mosaic does,
(24:08):
it really frees up the operatorto think about those types of things.
Right.
Because if you'reif your technology stack is disparate
and it's all over the place, in fact,your data is fragmented,
then you're focused moreon aggregating the data, finding the data.
Right? Maybe at a, at a minimum.
So it kind of alleviatesall those headaches, it seems like,
(24:31):
and it allows the consumeror the operator to focus on, okay,
let me run a marketing campaignwhere it's educationally focused.
Right?
We talk about the differencebetween a sativa plant versus, root
moralez plant versusan indica plant. Right.
And and so on and so forth. So,
it's amazing.
And speaking about data, I, I, we,you know, we touched on earlier
(24:52):
the importance of data and optimizingdispensary operations,
making business operators smarterin terms of making business decisions.
How is data
analytics unlocking new opportunitiesfor dispensaries?
From Mosaic's perspective?
So from mosaic,
we're primarilyfocused on the customer and,
(25:14):
I guess a bit of education,but driving their behavior.
So outside of that,there's a lot of data that we capture
that others could use relative to,you know, inventory management
and all the operational aspects,that others are doing as well.
But we're really focused on the customer,which I would argue
is one of the most important things,to one, understand, you know, what
(25:37):
the customers want, what's their behavior,what they're buying behavior.
And to how you engage them, how you
keep them loyal.
And then, you know, how you,
get to the right products to themand how you market. So,
that's really where our focus is. And,
you know, and again,you know, we're doing it like many others
(25:57):
do in other industriestrying to leverage that data.
And, you know, we're we're just gettingstarted to we we do that in our platform.
But we we're really startingto get into AI.
And there's a lot more there to add.
And you know, we've got a lot more to addto make our platform even more robust
so that it can tap into that dataand really leverage it more effectively.
It's it's limitless.
So much, so much that we could do thatanybody can do around the data.
(26:20):
Yeah.
No, absolutely.And you said something earlier
that stuck out to meand I, I couldn't agree more.
I think I don't knowif you threw a data point out,
but you mentioned how the consumer basein the cannabis industry is really
their mobile. Right.
And so it it makes sense to have a mobileapp if you're a dispensary.
Tell me about the benefitsof having a dedicated mobile app.
(26:42):
From a dispensaries perspective,and how Mosaic's absolution
has helped dispensariesmaybe boost sales, streamline ordering,
or create more personalized experiencefor the consumer.
Yeah, and that's a great questionbecause people,
one, can I struggle with that?
And two, don't don't fully leverage it.
(27:03):
Yeah.
Data point I can tell you that in otherindustries, you know, data is out there.
8,090% of folks are on their phonewhen they're shopping, buying in cannabis.
I've heard the saying, but I can tell youfrom our data, 88.7% of people
on the phone, on a mobile phone,when they're,
shopping,browsing or buying cannabis, right?
So that alone would make it,
(27:25):
kind of meaningful.
And the reason to have an app.
Now, you can use your phonewith a mobile browser and,
and it works, but it's not optimized.
And a lot of the technologiesand platforms out there are even optimized
from a browser perspective to workwell on the phone.
And we're very focused oneverything we do.
And the design is built for a phone,even if it's a browser.
(27:46):
But the app then gives you some additionalbenefits if you can download the app.
Here's the key that I think,I try to explain to people
what kind of business would use an appand where does it fit?
Well, I'll tell you,if you have repeat customers,
then an app makes sense for you.
Now, for example, if you're someonethat's looking for a shirt
(28:09):
and you can go to Amazon and golook in a marketplace,
whatever,you can find the best price or the brand
you want,you're going to go shop across everybody.
You can buy a shirt,
you're not going to buy a shirt next weekand next week or next month necessarily.
Maybe.
Well, but
you're not going to need an appfor that store
because you can buy one to go buyfrom another store later on.
But if there's a favorite restaurantor there's a favorite coffee, right,
like Starbucks or and cannabisif there is a
(28:32):
this is where a dispensary wasa favorite dispensary you like to go to.
Well, that go to source becauseyour customer can benefit from an app
because now that customer can downloadthe app and now they've got your store,
which they go to, which they,
you know, they they have some appreciationfor hopefully some love.
They've got their store in their pocketor on their phone all the time
and then go to you quickly.
(28:53):
And then you've got a couplethat with loyalty.
So when you couple the app with loyalty,now you're giving people a reward
for everything they're spending with youand a reason
to stay with you, to stay stickybecause they're getting points.
And those points,I give them discounts and all that.
So that's where it all comes together.
Nice and tight.
The app provides another benefit,which is push notifications.
So if you get someone to downloadan app and register for your, say,
(29:15):
loyalty program or VIP program,now you can push notifications.
And that's really important in cannabisbecause cannabis is limited
and it's marketing tools.
So Google Ads is becomingeven more strict recently.
You know,you can't market very easily outside.
You can send email,
you can push notifications andpeople do text, but text is not compliant.
(29:36):
And that's a tough it's expensive,not compliant
and kind of invasive to market.
Yeah, I always feel weird when someonesuits me like a promotion through text.
I don't know, I'm and maybethat's just my preference, but I get it.
It's it can be effective.
But, I would much rather have like an app.
(29:56):
No, you know, push notificationwhere I know where it's coming from.
It's not some random numberyou know, random number.
Exactly.And you gotta be careful what you say.
You can't say anythingabout cannabis in it or the product name.
With an app
push notification, you can put images,you can put whatever you want, right?
And you can advertisejust like you can for an email.
(30:16):
So the app is very powerful in that sense,the holy grail for a dispensary,
in my opinion, because in an ideal world,you're doing over 50% of your revenues
are sales through some digital meansis when a customer comes in, you get them
to download the app, you get themto be registered with your dispensary
because now you're in the pocketand now you can start to send them
communications, into their phone,to their, to their email.
(30:40):
You know, whether you do, some peopledo it daily, but 2 or 3 times a week.
And if you're doing it in a way to addvalue, you're locking them in
and, it can become a little bitmore viral.
That's the holy grail.
That'swhen you start to really build loyalty
and you really start to build momentumon your sales and, in your growth.
Yeah.
And our best customer like 60%,you know, or more on, on, on there.
(31:04):
You know, do it through mosaic.
Yeah.They're just going to keep coming back.
They're incentivized to do so.
And I mean there's even other advantages
like in-app promotions, mobile paymentoptions and driving customer retention.
So the benefits are definitely therewhen it comes to having an app.
I think one more thingthat we should probably circle back on
(31:25):
before we wrap up here, Jack, is,you know, I guess
basically what Mosaic's overall valueproposition is,
which is creating a seamless omnichannelexperience for cannabis customers.
Right?
Like that dispensaries can use thatthat branded digital experience
all in one,where your tech stack is, is integrated.
(31:46):
So tell me about how,
all solutions help dispensaries
create a seamlessomnichannel, presence and,
what insightsyou can share for dispensaries
that maybe don't have that todaybut are looking for it.
Sure.
Yeah.
So our platform,mosaic does exactly what you said.
(32:08):
Insteadof having these fragmented solutions,
you know, we bring it all togetherin a single platform.
But more importantly,a single user experience that they love.
It's mobile.
It's very similar to what they doin other industries.
Starbucks, Chick-Fil-A, TacoBell, CVS to speak of a non restaurant.
That experience they love.
(32:28):
They're used to it's convenient.They want.
So that's what doesn't exist in cannabis.
So we give a dispensarythat full user experience.
You say omnichannel but that's the app.
That's the online menu.
It's the kiosk in the store.
It's consistent experience. It's branded
and we
do that so it's easier to managebecause of one platform instead of many.
(32:49):
And then the value you talk about value,we do it all for $500 per month.
So you know, the value is much less than
they're spendingfor these fragmented solutions as a whole.
That's an end of it.
If you want to compete
or if you want to havea competitive advantage,
I think you want to take the bestpractices,
best practices from other industriesthat are proven.
And, you know, we kind of tookthat playbook and brought to cannabis.
(33:13):
That's number one.
Number twois then using it effectively, right.
Getting it out thereand be able to get your users on it
and start using the marketing toolseffectively.
We talked about that being the challenge.
We try to help our customers with that.
We have partnersthat can help customers with that as well.
But that's the nature of what we do.
We simplify, providea better user experience, and help
you leverage tools so that you can,more effectively grow your business.
(33:38):
Very cool.
Jacques.
It's definitely a solutionthat is is needed in cannabis,
if not within other industries as well.
Because, again, thisthis data is just everywhere.
And it's great
that you have an all in one solutionwhere it's, you know, it's all integrated.
So, I really appreciate you coming on and,
and sharing more information about mosaicand your background.
(34:00):
Is there anything that you wantto leave the audience
with before we go here?
You know,hey, if you wanna learn more about mosaic,
check us out.
Mosaic dot, green.com green mosaic dotgreen or, you know, shoot me a message.
Jack dot blazer.
It's blazer at mosaic dot green.
(34:21):
In fact,
I still like to do a lot of the demosbecause I love to have that customer
interaction.I love to hear what's going on.
So, reach out, I'll show youwhat we're doing for others. And,
if I can help in any other way.
Not only to mosaic.You know, I'd love to do that.
I want to make this helpthis industry be successful.
Want to, you know, give as much as we canbecause it's been fairly giving to me.
(34:44):
So, let's make it successful together.
Awesome. Great way to end it. Jack.
I appreciate you coming on.
And I'll drop those website, add linksin the description box on YouTube,
as well as the episode, landing page,so people have it.
But thank you so much for coming onand best of luck to you.
Can't wait to be followingy'all's progress as you continue.
Hey Kevin, thanks for having meon. This was awesome. Was a lot of fun.
(35:05):
Appreciate it.
Of course.
Yes, and thank you all for listening. Bye.
Cannabinoid connect,
the nation'smost diverse cannabis related podcast.
321. Cannabinoid connect,
the nation's most diverse cannabisrelated podcast.
All right.
It looks like we are recording.
Jack, welcome to the podcast.
(00:20):
It's great to have you.
Hey, Kevin. Thanks.
Thanks for having me on your show.Appreciate it.
Yeah, absolutely.
I'm, I'm really looking forwardto talking to you today about mosaic.
Am I saying that right?
Mosaic. Yep.
Mosaic. Mosaic is.
You bring together lots of differentpieces, and you make a beautiful,
piece of art or something,and that's a bit of what we do.
(00:42):
I love it, I love it. Thrown in the brand.
Meaning it has purpose.
It has a great message.
So, Yeah, you're the founder,the CEO and board director.
And before we get into mosaic,I understand
you've served as board directorfor a number of different companies.
So tell me a little bitabout your background
and what got youinto the cannabis industry.
(01:02):
Yeah.
You know, I,
for the last 20 yearsor so, I've been raising capital,
starting businesses, helpingother businesses around technology,
and really trying to innovate and disruptin a good way.
Industries help industriesleverage technology to,
you know, help businessesbe more successful.
So, that's what I've enjoyed.
That's what I've been doing.
(01:23):
And across a wide variety of areas.
But I did about ten years ago,I made an investment in cannabis
and started to watch and lookat the industry a little bit more closely.
The legal industry and how that wasevolving relative to the illicit industry.
And notice a few things.
First thing you noticed, this man.
That's hard.
I mean, these companies in this industrywith trade and everything, they've got
(01:46):
their hands tied behind their backand such a challenge,
you know, how do you compete?
And then you got to competeand sell illicit market
that doesn't have those challenges.
And it's a lot cheaper right.
So that's the first thing.
And the second thing I gravitated tobecause my background
is technology and just taking a look,you know, a few things I saw.
One was technology was really very simple.
(02:07):
I call it rudimentary and
fragmented.
And so that made it hard for cannabisoperators, especially around
retail, to be successful.
But I also saw companiesget in there like Gene Dutch
and be very successful initially. Right.
So there was a real good opportunityfor companies to come in and help these,
these cannabis operators be,
be more successful and have the same toolsthat other industries have.
(02:30):
So that's what mosaic is all about,trying to bring some of those capabilities
and help, the industry be successful.
That's great.
And I love that
you mentioned your passion for technology,because I think that's a great segue.
And a good way to kickthis conversation off is to kind of
just lay the groundwork and talk aboutthe evolution of cannabis dispensaries.
(02:50):
So, I think it's been it's been 12 years,right, since Colorado went legal.
So we've had 12,12 years of kind of evolution.
So what have you seen, in termsof how technology is transforming the
cannabis dispensary experience from onlineordering to in-store operations?
Yeah.
So, it's been interesting to watch,and I think it's kind of lagging
(03:14):
some of the other industriesoutside of cannabis.
But, you know, back ten years ago or so,it was all about the store
and store experience.
You know, and that's still very important.
But, Covid hit.
And when that came, there was an immediateneed for dispensaries to find a way
and in other industries,but for dispensaries
found a way to be ableto take those orders.
(03:36):
Remotelyand have people come and pick it up.
So that really injected,new technologies, new startups,
that were very successfuland solving that need.
And, and now we're evolving to a pointwhere
I think, you know, the technologiesthat are out there for the,
for the large part are still fairly,you know, they're built for that period.
And if you look outside the industry,which you'll hear me say all the time
(03:59):
to a Starbucks, for example,or a chick fil A, you know, their brand,
their app, their online menu,the loyalty and the payments all in one.
That mobile experience works for them.
And that's that's whatthat's what cannabis needs.
And that's what mosaic is bringing,is the ability for a dispensary or an MSO
to have their own branded Starbucks likedigital experience for their customers,
(04:20):
and ability to deliver that in a very costeffective manner, say, $500
per location. So, so we're in that period.
But if you start to look forward,
you start to see what's happeningin other industries, or you can start
to see I play a role and that'swhere it's going to get really exciting.
The ability to really startto leverage the data and machine
(04:40):
or AI,to personalize the experiences online.
And that's all key, Kevin, because,
you know, outside of this industry,for example, Starbucks, over
50% of their revenues, their salescome from their app and their loyalty
and same thing with our best customers.
You know, they're doing 60%or more, online or through digital.
So it's kind of a key must have.
(05:02):
But it's also somethingyou really need to have
a good experience to, to be competitiveand successful in this industry.
Sure, sure.
Well, let's dive a bit deeperinto those key innovations you touched on.
You know, from in-store to cashlesspayments,
online preorders, you know,other type of digital loyalty programs.
And then you even mentionedthe emergence of AI.
(05:22):
So briefly touch on kind of each of those.
But if you want to dive further intoI am very interested because,
the data has been there, right?
We've had the data, but it seems likeAI is going to really help
in terms of like automating the personal,personalized experience
instead of the humantrying to kind of segment
those customer types of,yeah, there's a lot of depth here.
(05:44):
You just mentioned three key things.
I'm gonna try to remember themin that order and quickly cover them.
We can dive in.
You know, the first is that digitalexperience of online ordering.
So the first thing isthere's many ways to order right.
Digitally.
There's there's an online menuwhich is typical for most dispensaries.
There's an app, 88.7%
of our dispensary customers are usersare on their mobile phone.
(06:06):
So it's pretty relevant to have an app.
And that may dispensaries do.
And then there's kiosks in the store.
And then there's some other digital mean.
So to make sure that is a good experienceand make sure it's consistent across
all three,
it's tough to do in the campus spacebecause you're using
using different providersfor those services.
So that's the first aspectyou start to think about,
(06:27):
what's happeningthere and the importance to it.
And then you start to look at,you know, I,
and what I is going to play inthe role is going to play.
And data is a big part of that.
So when you look at the data piece,there's a big gap currently.
And that is the visibilityto what people are doing through digital.
(06:48):
So today, believe it or not,most dispensaries, most MSOs,
most brands in this industrydon't get the data.
They don't see the data,
of what's happening online,the online menu or the app.
And that's
because the architectures that are usingthat most dispensaries are using
for their online menu, for example,
is an older technology,and it blocks a lot of that data.
(07:09):
So we mosaic, we make all of that visible.
So the first big challengeis to make sure that you have data,
and you can see the data and you can startto analyze it and understand it.
And that's important.So now you can see all those clicks right.
What are people clicking.
And what I like to tell people is it's
the in-storeexperience is great for dispensary.
You go in a store, bartendersthere, they usually know their stuff.
(07:31):
You have that exchange,but they're not taking notes
so they don't know what you'retalking about.
No one else is really knowing, you know,
what products you're talking aboutand which ones you end up buying or not.
But the data that's available onlinewhen people are online or in and out.
Again, remember 60 for gooddispensary, 60% of it is online, digital.
That data is telling you everything.
It's telling youwhat what products are people
(07:52):
looking at, their clicking,how much time they spent
on each productcompared to the other product.
Then do they put in a cart
and then do they actually buy itwhen they put it in the cart?
That product, everything's there.
That data in other industries is goldand companies use that very effectively.
So one is getting data, getting visibilityand having access to it.
And that's one thing mosaic provides
(08:13):
and one thingthat is lacking in this industry.
And then the third component is the AI.
And we know that, you know, everyone'sgoing crazy about AI, and what it can do.
But it's a very simple basisto start with in this industry,
if you've got the data,then you can just start to be
you can start to be smartwith how you interact
in an automated way with your customers.
(08:34):
As a dispensary, it'sthe software can do it.
And what that means isthe software will know who you are
and what your profile is.
So male, female or whatever,and you know where you live
and how much you boughtand what you bought,
and then it will knowwhat everybody else does
so it can compare you with everyone else,what their likes and dislikes aren't.
And then based uponall of that information across,
(08:54):
you know, thousands, tens of thousands,many users,
you'll be able to startto personalize the menu
so the menu looks different for youthan someone else.
You'll start to be able to send,
certain offers
or, or targeted communicationsto those users.
And those will be meaningful, messageswith contexts
that are that, that a user can receiveand will make them
(09:18):
make better decisions, by the practicebetter fit for them and
for dispensary buy more of that productand more often, most likely.
So there's so much therejust to get started with AI and
and then, you know, that's just the start
with what data and AI is going to provide,not just for cannabis, but,
you know, it's going to change the world.
It's just a matter of how quicklythat's going to happen.
And I think it's going to happenquicker than people think.
(09:39):
Right. It's fascinating.
I mean, just the examplesyou shared there and like you mentioned,
we're just scratching the surfacewith AI and all that it can do.
And it's already blowingmost people's minds.
Right.
And so
and another thing that you touched onthat I couldn't agree more with, and it's
even a huge, issue outside of the cannabisindustry is the fragmented data, right?
(10:00):
It's the lack of integration among various
software solutionswhere these systems aren't
talking to each otherand a lot of the data is is piecemeal.
You got to pull it from here,you got to pull it from there.
And it's it's pretty coolthat, mosaic is tackling that issue.
And so I think this is a good partwhere we, you know, talk about how,
(10:21):
mosaic is helping dispensaries basicallybuild a branded digital experience, right?
Developtheir own branded e-commerce platforms,
and why having full controlof a digital storefront matters.
Yeah.
Great question.
So, Kevin, the first aspectof how mosaic is different,
(10:42):
you go back to how it's fragmented today.
So if you're a dispensary or MSO,you're buying,
it's typically you have a platform,like you said for e-commerce,
another one for loyalty,maybe something else for an app,
maybe something else for, for forfor consolidating your data and analytics.
You have all these different platforms.
You got to pull them together.
So what mosaic has doneis to basically pull
(11:02):
your digital customer experience andall of those platforms together into one.
And as a result,we're able to provide customers
or dispensaries their ownbranded Starbucks like experience.
So that's their own branded app,their own branded online menu.
The kiosks, all the loyalty, the rewards,ability to do marketing and CRM,
as well as integrated paymentsinto a seamless experience.
(11:25):
And for the dispensary owner, it's greatbecause one
you're managing one platform, two, it'sbringing all the data together.
Now you can leverage that dataas we're talking about, three.
It's much more cost effective.
It's a lot less expensive.It's probably a third of the cost.
And what they pay for this,you know, bringing everything together.
But that's what we do,is bring it all together, make it easier
(11:45):
and simplify and give an experiencethat customers are used to
in other industries that they love, inother industries that is proven to work,
that we know drives more frequentspending, higher average order values.
And then you just
then you start to tap in the dataand then you to get smart around it.
So, that's what mosaic does.
And that's what makes us different.
I think that's the gapthat we're filling today in this industry.
(12:08):
Yeah.
And I mean, you've clearly statedit's important
to create a branded digital experienceto, to stay competitive, right?
So, in your position,can you share some examples of how
dispensaries can differentiate themselvesor are differentiated
themselves through this digitalbranding and user experience?
(12:29):
Yeah.
And there's many most dispensariesare using what's called iframe platforms.
And that means that their look feelsall the same.
It's always a white background,it's always the same template.
And it's very difficult to brandhave any of your brand in that experience.
So you'll want to dispensary online.
You go to another one.
It's a it's the same experience.
So from the very get go,you know, what mosaic enables you to do is
(12:51):
have your brand reflect that.
You know, it'sall of your marketing assets,
colors, logos, fontsthroughout the whole online experience.
And as I said before, not just the menu,
but we give you the app,we give you the kiosk.
And that's all a very similar experience,which is important
if you're a customer,
you don't want to go onlineand then use an app
and it looks a little bit differentor a lot different.
So. So that's the first that's probablythe first thing you can do.
(13:13):
The second is especially
because we own the online e-commercepiece of it, but we also on the loyalty.
Now we're able to kind of send messagesin a personalized manner.
So if you're a user, you know, one, one,one I might be seeing offers,
for me that are trying to get me to buymy first product because I just signed up.
(13:35):
Or Kevin, if you were a userand you've been a user, and
as a registered user for this dispensaryfor six months, it was your birthday.
You might be getting a birthday discount
and you might be getting a discounton certain products,
or because you're on tiertwo or tier three,
you're getting the special discounts,or you're getting discounts on products
that people don't seethat are on tier one.
So you're very,you know, you're very unique and special.
(13:56):
And that's from a brandperspective, important
because now everything has context.
Everything is relativeto more of your interest.
And, it'smore meaningful to the to the user.
And that helps your brand.
And then we're doing another things where,you know, you can actually have video
built into that experience, onlineor in your app.
And I think we're the only onesdoing that.
(14:18):
And, you know, the more professionalthe experiences, the more unique it is.
That just enhances your brand.
So those are just some quick examples.
But, you know, in today's world,I would suggest,
you know, if you're doing a good job,over 50% of your
of your revenues,your sales are going to come online.
And therefore it's important.
That's a good experience.
And therefore you want thatto reflect your brand.
(14:38):
And therefore you want thatto also reflect the in-store experience.
So to be able to tieall those together is important.
But most technology today and cannabisdon't really enable you to do that.
So that that that's key to success.
And it's becoming table stakes.
You know more and more as we move forward.
Right.
Well,and staying along the lines of building
long term relationshipswith cannabis consumers,
(15:00):
I would imagine, I mean, what you've laidout like that's the playbook, right?
Various waysmosaic can help with loyalty programs
and be successfulin driving repeat business.
But there's got to be challengesalong the way, right?
So maybe talk about some ofthose challenges that you frequently
see with, with various, dispensariesand then how how they can overcome
(15:22):
and then keep it positive.
Also maybe talking aboutthe opportunities as well.
Yeah.
I mean, the first challengeI think we run into is that dispensaries
have so much on their plate and, you know,they don't have a tremendous amount
of resource.
And we talked about the fact that
financially, it's a very big challengebecause they got all this overhead and
therefore you can have a general manageror a manager in a dispensary.
(15:44):
They're doing everything.
So how do they one knowhow to use the tools.
Not just our tools, but any tools.
Across the full spectrumof what they need to manage
and how do they use it effectively?
And then how do I just find time to do it?
That's a big challenge.
We'd like to think that we try to simplifyand make that easier by giving them
(16:04):
for everything that's digitalcustomer experience into one platforms,
and learningand managing 5 or 3 platforms.
You've got one.
It's very easy to do.
That helps, but it's still a challenge.
I mean, they've got so much on their plateand it's so hard.
So, you know, what we try to do is help.
We try to give white glove treatment.
We try to we've got this great playbookthat kind of gives an instructional guide
about not only how to use it,
(16:25):
but you know, how you can doother marketing things to,
build your brand, to engage and, drivemore loyalty.
So we try to give them more tools.
And, you know, we're still a relativelyearly as a business, so we're still trying
to, find ways to help even furtheras we go forward.
But that's the number big.
That's the big challenge,I think, is, is that.
(16:46):
And then I'd say the second challengeand you touched on
it, Kevin is building a brand
because it's a competitive landscapefor these cannabis retail operators.
And if you all lookthe same, people are buying in price.
And if you're all just kind of discountingeverything at once,
you're losing margin.
So the ability to be smart about itand discount in a smarter way,
ability to reflect your brand better,
(17:07):
have a better customer experiencethat helps them at the end as well.
But it's kind of a catch 22 because
how do you find the timeto get the right technologies in place
to learn those technologies, andthen do that marketing and leverage them?
Well, you've got so many different firesgoing on, and you just don't
have the resources to, to, to throw at it.
So that's really the big challenge,that I see outside of the financial,
(17:30):
you know, landscapethat they've got to manage.
Yeah.
I mean, you mentionedthat mosaic is is fairly new in the game.
So how long have you all been aroundand what what's the origin story?
Everybody loves a good founder's story.
So no pressure.
Yeah.
We've been around just overtwo and a half years, and,
we are, very much a productled company in the sense that,
(17:54):
you know, we put a lot of resourceand team into the product,
and we have over
two and a half years,
and we
continue to enhance what we have built,because what we built in many ways is
three times
more than what our competitors have,because we're not just doing e-commerce
and we're doing that,but we're doing the app,
we're doing loyalty rewardsand bring payments together.
So we're doing a lot more.
And we'd like to think it's very,it's engineered in a very,
(18:18):
tight, effective manner.
So a lot of that, that time goes into it.
In terms of the story. Kevin.
Yeah.
I mean, it's probably not as excitingas some of the others, but,
yeah, I mean, didn't happen in a garage.
It didn't happen in your basement or,
well, we're still scrappy company.
We're not like some of the big players.
We haven't raised $100 million.
(18:38):
We've been very cost efficient.
So we're scrappy in that sense. But,
I've done this before,and I saw an opportunity,
like I said, to invest ten years ago,look at the industry.
And then three years ago,maybe a little bit more, say,
you know, we can really help this industryand I know exactly where.
And this is space.
I know this technology. So,
the playbook was there Starbucks,chick fil A.
(19:00):
Just look at other industries.
They figured it out,
obviously spent hundreds of millionsof dollars to get to where they are.
But they figured it out.
So all we need to do is helpbuild that for cannabis.
And as a result,we could do it for others.
I love doing that.
I've been able to do thata few other times.
So, you know, that's what got me into it.
And you know what?
It's been a thrill because thisI've been in many other industries,
(19:23):
insurance, telco, finance, this industry.
So awesome.
The people are great there.
You know, it's a new industry.
So it's got a lot of challenge. But,
it's exciting in that sense.
There's opportunityas well as the challenge that's there.
But the culture, the people, how it'sso different than everything else.
So that's beenthat's been a blast to be part of.
(19:46):
So, the ability to come in and hopefullyhelp these businesses be successful,
move business from the illicit market,educate people
that, they haven't used before or startingto learn about the benefits of it,
or transitioning from, say, alcoholor addictive drugs into something
that's going to be better for them,more healthy.
(20:06):
It's kind of motivating every dayto, to take a look at that.
So yeah, so,
so I'm excited and what I'm doing,I kind of saw a plan, jumped into it.
I probably wish I had a better story.
I could make up a better story,but I think that's a great story, Jack,
I really do.
And the reason I say that is because toyour point about how exciting the cannabis
industry is, I mean, I've said this overand over on the podcast where
(20:30):
it's it's bringing togetherso many different people
that have so many different skillsets and, and experience.
Right.
And with one like minded kind of goal.
And that is to advance the accessibilityand movement of this plan.
Right.
Of, of, of, you know, consumers getting,getting to be able to access it.
(20:51):
And so you and your backgroundjust having started
and founded other businessesand having that
strong technology background,I mean, it's an asset.
And, if this is an industrywhere you're going to pivot
and try to solve and a problemthat's I think that's very welcome.
For, for most people.
So, it's it's a good story.
(21:13):
Don't don't beat yourself up on that.
Kevin, with your quick story.
My story is that I've been a consumer
for since,
I just outside of high school.
So all through college, consumedafter my wrestling career is really
when I started consuming.
And I just love the plantand what it does for me personally.
(21:35):
And when the pandemic hit, you know,it was an opportunity
where I figured I'm goingto throw my hat in the into the ring
and see what I can do in terms of addingvalue from the conversation perspective.
At the time, there weren'ttoo many podcasts and there wasn't
a lot of educationaround, the cannabis plant.
(21:55):
And not only right on the consumer side,but the medical benefit.
Right.
The, the agricultural and industrial,
benefitsof what you can basically do with hemp.
So I thought, hey, this is a winwin, you know, and people are going to be
maybe a little uncomfortable at firstwhen I came out of the cannabis closet.
But I just believe that there's no goingback.
(22:18):
We're only going to progress, you know?
So that's that's my quick story.
You're right.
And that's actually another challengethat that,
that I really believe is out there.
You know, the low hanging fruitis, is for dispensary or cannabis is to go
after the users who kind of knowcannabis that want to buy it. And,
the real opportunity is kind of shiftingand getting well.
(22:39):
The people are really stuckin that illicit market
because it's cheaperor they've got their buddy there.
They buy from getting them to transition.
But then the people who eitherthere was a stigma
or now because it's legalthat they're more willing to
to step in and more importantly,just understand it, people,
when you're doing the podcast, greatpeople don't understand cannabis, right?
And if you get to the non buyers today,but the ones that might want to buy
(23:02):
the ones that have, you know, painand it could help them with that
or any medical conditionthat might help them with or,
or just might again replace alcohol or,you know, some addictive drug that,
you know, so many opportunities to reallyhelp people, they just don't know.
So the lack of education.
So how do you how do you educate people?
How do you try to transition peoplefrom illicit to legal and high transition?
(23:26):
More importantly, everybody elsethat is a big audience that, you know,
if they knew what they could door how would it help them.
And some of them want to figure it out,
but they just don't knowhow to figure it out.
How do you get them in the fall to,so that that's, that's
that's something I'd see dispensariessometimes missing marketing to.
Maybe they're smart because the holy molyfruit is what gets the business going.
(23:46):
But how do you tap into those people?
In some ways,
we think mosaic can help,because if you've got
that digital experience like Starbucks,
it's going to make it easier for peopleto dip their toe in.
Check that out.
The couple with that kind of experience,maybe they go by and go pick it up,
make it a little bit easier,but you're hitting on that.
That's a big gap in the industry.
Yeah.
And I think with with what mosaic does,
(24:08):
it really frees up the operatorto think about those types of things.
Right.
Because if you'reif your technology stack is disparate
and it's all over the place, in fact,your data is fragmented,
then you're focused moreon aggregating the data, finding the data.
Right? Maybe at a, at a minimum.
So it kind of alleviatesall those headaches, it seems like,
(24:31):
and it allows the consumeror the operator to focus on, okay,
let me run a marketing campaignwhere it's educationally focused.
Right?
We talk about the differencebetween a sativa plant versus, root
moralez plant versusan indica plant. Right.
And and so on and so forth. So,
it's amazing.
And speaking about data, I, I, we,you know, we touched on earlier
(24:52):
the importance of data and optimizingdispensary operations,
making business operators smarterin terms of making business decisions.
How is data
analytics unlocking new opportunitiesfor dispensaries?
From Mosaic's perspective?
So from mosaic,
we're primarilyfocused on the customer and,
(25:14):
I guess a bit of education,but driving their behavior.
So outside of that,there's a lot of data that we capture
that others could use relative to,you know, inventory management
and all the operational aspects,that others are doing as well.
But we're really focused on the customer,which I would argue
is one of the most important things,to one, understand, you know, what
(25:37):
the customers want, what's their behavior,what they're buying behavior.
And to how you engage them, how you
keep them loyal.
And then, you know, how you,
get to the right products to themand how you market. So,
that's really where our focus is. And,
you know, and again,you know, we're doing it like many others
(25:57):
do in other industriestrying to leverage that data.
And, you know, we're we're just gettingstarted to we we do that in our platform.
But we we're really startingto get into AI.
And there's a lot more there to add.
And you know, we've got a lot more to addto make our platform even more robust
so that it can tap into that dataand really leverage it more effectively.
It's it's limitless.
So much, so much that we could do thatanybody can do around the data.
(26:20):
Yeah.
No, absolutely.And you said something earlier
that stuck out to meand I, I couldn't agree more.
I think I don't knowif you threw a data point out,
but you mentioned how the consumer basein the cannabis industry is really
their mobile. Right.
And so it it makes sense to have a mobileapp if you're a dispensary.
Tell me about the benefitsof having a dedicated mobile app.
(26:42):
From a dispensaries perspective,and how Mosaic's absolution
has helped dispensariesmaybe boost sales, streamline ordering,
or create more personalized experiencefor the consumer.
Yeah, and that's a great questionbecause people,
one, can I struggle with that?
And two, don't don't fully leverage it.
(27:03):
Yeah.
Data point I can tell you that in otherindustries, you know, data is out there.
8,090% of folks are on their phonewhen they're shopping, buying in cannabis.
I've heard the saying, but I can tell youfrom our data, 88.7% of people
on the phone, on a mobile phone,when they're,
shopping,browsing or buying cannabis, right?
So that alone would make it,
(27:25):
kind of meaningful.
And the reason to have an app.
Now, you can use your phonewith a mobile browser and,
and it works, but it's not optimized.
And a lot of the technologiesand platforms out there are even optimized
from a browser perspective to workwell on the phone.
And we're very focused oneverything we do.
And the design is built for a phone,even if it's a browser.
(27:46):
But the app then gives you some additionalbenefits if you can download the app.
Here's the key that I think,I try to explain to people
what kind of business would use an appand where does it fit?
Well, I'll tell you,if you have repeat customers,
then an app makes sense for you.
Now, for example, if you're someonethat's looking for a shirt
(28:09):
and you can go to Amazon and golook in a marketplace,
whatever,you can find the best price or the brand
you want,you're going to go shop across everybody.
You can buy a shirt,
you're not going to buy a shirt next weekand next week or next month necessarily.
Maybe.
Well, but
you're not going to need an appfor that store
because you can buy one to go buyfrom another store later on.
But if there's a favorite restaurantor there's a favorite coffee, right,
like Starbucks or and cannabisif there is a
(28:32):
this is where a dispensary wasa favorite dispensary you like to go to.
Well, that go to source becauseyour customer can benefit from an app
because now that customer can downloadthe app and now they've got your store,
which they go to, which they,
you know, they they have some appreciationfor hopefully some love.
They've got their store in their pocketor on their phone all the time
and then go to you quickly.
(28:53):
And then you've got a couplethat with loyalty.
So when you couple the app with loyalty,now you're giving people a reward
for everything they're spending with youand a reason
to stay with you, to stay stickybecause they're getting points.
And those points,I give them discounts and all that.
So that's where it all comes together.
Nice and tight.
The app provides another benefit,which is push notifications.
So if you get someone to downloadan app and register for your, say,
(29:15):
loyalty program or VIP program,now you can push notifications.
And that's really important in cannabisbecause cannabis is limited
and it's marketing tools.
So Google Ads is becomingeven more strict recently.
You know,you can't market very easily outside.
You can send email,
you can push notifications andpeople do text, but text is not compliant.
(29:36):
And that's a tough it's expensive,not compliant
and kind of invasive to market.
Yeah, I always feel weird when someonesuits me like a promotion through text.
I don't know, I'm and maybethat's just my preference, but I get it.
It's it can be effective.
But, I would much rather have like an app.
(29:56):
No, you know, push notificationwhere I know where it's coming from.
It's not some random numberyou know, random number.
Exactly.And you gotta be careful what you say.
You can't say anythingabout cannabis in it or the product name.
With an app
push notification, you can put images,you can put whatever you want, right?
And you can advertisejust like you can for an email.
(30:16):
So the app is very powerful in that sense,the holy grail for a dispensary,
in my opinion, because in an ideal world,you're doing over 50% of your revenues
are sales through some digital meansis when a customer comes in, you get them
to download the app, you get themto be registered with your dispensary
because now you're in the pocketand now you can start to send them
communications, into their phone,to their, to their email.
(30:40):
You know, whether you do, some peopledo it daily, but 2 or 3 times a week.
And if you're doing it in a way to addvalue, you're locking them in
and, it can become a little bitmore viral.
That's the holy grail.
That'swhen you start to really build loyalty
and you really start to build momentumon your sales and, in your growth.
Yeah.
And our best customer like 60%,you know, or more on, on, on there.
(31:04):
You know, do it through mosaic.
Yeah.They're just going to keep coming back.
They're incentivized to do so.
And I mean there's even other advantages
like in-app promotions, mobile paymentoptions and driving customer retention.
So the benefits are definitely therewhen it comes to having an app.
I think one more thingthat we should probably circle back on
(31:25):
before we wrap up here, Jack, is,you know, I guess
basically what Mosaic's overall valueproposition is,
which is creating a seamless omnichannelexperience for cannabis customers.
Right?
Like that dispensaries can use thatthat branded digital experience
all in one,where your tech stack is, is integrated.
(31:46):
So tell me about how,
all solutions help dispensaries
create a seamlessomnichannel, presence and,
what insightsyou can share for dispensaries
that maybe don't have that todaybut are looking for it.
Sure.
Yeah.
So our platform,mosaic does exactly what you said.
(32:08):
Insteadof having these fragmented solutions,
you know, we bring it all togetherin a single platform.
But more importantly,a single user experience that they love.
It's mobile.
It's very similar to what they doin other industries.
Starbucks, Chick-Fil-A, TacoBell, CVS to speak of a non restaurant.
That experience they love.
(32:28):
They're used to it's convenient.They want.
So that's what doesn't exist in cannabis.
So we give a dispensarythat full user experience.
You say omnichannel but that's the app.
That's the online menu.
It's the kiosk in the store.
It's consistent experience. It's branded
and we
do that so it's easier to managebecause of one platform instead of many.
(32:49):
And then the value you talk about value,we do it all for $500 per month.
So you know, the value is much less than
they're spendingfor these fragmented solutions as a whole.
That's an end of it.
If you want to compete
or if you want to havea competitive advantage,
I think you want to take the bestpractices,
best practices from other industriesthat are proven.
And, you know, we kind of tookthat playbook and brought to cannabis.
(33:13):
That's number one.
Number twois then using it effectively, right.
Getting it out thereand be able to get your users on it
and start using the marketing toolseffectively.
We talked about that being the challenge.
We try to help our customers with that.
We have partnersthat can help customers with that as well.
But that's the nature of what we do.
We simplify, providea better user experience, and help
you leverage tools so that you can,more effectively grow your business.
(33:38):
Very cool.
Jacques.
It's definitely a solutionthat is is needed in cannabis,
if not within other industries as well.
Because, again, thisthis data is just everywhere.
And it's great
that you have an all in one solutionwhere it's, you know, it's all integrated.
So, I really appreciate you coming on and,
and sharing more information about mosaicand your background.
(34:00):
Is there anything that you wantto leave the audience
with before we go here?
You know,hey, if you wanna learn more about mosaic,
check us out.
Mosaic dot, green.com green mosaic dotgreen or, you know, shoot me a message.
Jack dot blazer.
It's blazer at mosaic dot green.
(34:21):
In fact,
I still like to do a lot of the demosbecause I love to have that customer
interaction.I love to hear what's going on.
So, reach out, I'll show youwhat we're doing for others. And,
if I can help in any other way.
Not only to mosaic.You know, I'd love to do that.
I want to make this helpthis industry be successful.
Want to, you know, give as much as we canbecause it's been fairly giving to me.
(34:44):
So, let's make it successful together.
Awesome. Great way to end it. Jack.
I appreciate you coming on.
And I'll drop those website, add linksin the description box on YouTube,
as well as the episode, landing page,so people have it.
But thank you so much for coming onand best of luck to you.
Can't wait to be followingy'all's progress as you continue.
Hey Kevin, thanks for having meon. This was awesome. Was a lot of fun.
(35:05):
Appreciate it.
Of course.
Yes, and thank you all for listening. Bye.
Cannabinoid connect,
the nation'smost diverse cannabis related podcast.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com