{"id":9106,"date":"2020-03-19T12:58:53","date_gmt":"2020-03-19T12:58:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=4019085"},"modified":"2020-03-19T12:58:53","modified_gmt":"2020-03-19T12:58:53","slug":"calls-for-social-distancing-spark-demand-for-online-cannabis-sales-in-colorado","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/calls-for-social-distancing-spark-demand-for-online-cannabis-sales-in-colorado\/","title":{"rendered":"Calls for social distancing spark demand for online cannabis sales in Colorado"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/calls-for-social-distancing-spark-demand-for-online-cannabis-sales-in-colorado\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2020\/03\/19\/online-cannabis-sales-colorado-social-distancing\/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dp-news-marijuana+%28Denver+Post%3A+News%3A+Marijuana%29&amp;utm_content=Google+UK#comments-anchor\"><span class=\"spot-im-replies-count\" data-post-id=\"4019085\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Americans can purchase pet supplies, medication and <a href=\"https:\/\/theknow.denverpost.com\/2020\/03\/18\/alcohol-wine-beer-delivery-denver-coronavirus\/235659\/\">even alcohol online<\/a>, so why not marijuana?<\/p>\n<p>That thought is crossing many Coloradans\u2019 minds as calls for the general public to practice social distancing have spurred a trend in online shopping for cannabis products.<\/p>\n<p>On March 16, Terrapin Care Station, which operates six dispensaries throughout the Front Range, saw an 1,800% increase in online sales over the same day a week prior, according to Communications Director Peter Marcus. Historically, online ordering accounted for a fraction of the company\u2019s sales, as consumers preferred to peruse cannabis selections in person to decide what to buy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClearly people are demanding cannabis during this crisis,\u201d Marcus said \u2014 even if they\u2019re hesitant to be close to other people.<\/p>\n<p>As Coloradans made <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2020\/03\/13\/coronavirus-denver-grocery-stores\/\">a run on groceries and toilet paper<\/a> in recent weeks to prepare for possible, coronavirus-induced quarantines, cannabis dispensaries had largely been unaffected. Some said they experienced an uptick in business, but others reported normal traffic or a decrease due to a lack of tourism.<\/p>\n<p>But that changed in recent days, when news of the virus\u2019 spread shut down <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2020\/03\/16\/colorado-school-districts-remote-learning-coronavirus\/\">schools<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2020\/03\/14\/coronavirus-vail-resorts-closure\/\">ski resorts<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2020\/03\/16\/denver-restaurants-curbside-pickup-delivery-coronavirus\/\">bars and restaurants<\/a> throughout the Centennial State. Most marijuana dispensaries are permitted to remain open as an essential service, alongside grocery stores and pharmacies, though some such as Organic Alternatives in Fort Collins have opted to close to mitigate the spread of coronavirus and COVID-19, the respiratory illness it causes.<\/p>\n<p>According to Steve Lopez, CEO of The Green Solution, the company\u2019s 23 dispensaries have seen an 80% increase in sales volume since March 12, including a 30% uptick in online ordering.<\/p>\n<p>Customers fill their digital baskets with marijuana flower, edibles and oils, and register an account like any other online service. Colorado prohibits the delivery of adult-use marijuana products, so they must be picked up and paid for in person.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/newsletter-signup\/checkup-denver\"><img class=\"alignright size-article_inline_half lazyautosizes lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/calls-for-social-distancing-spark-demand-for-online-cannabis-sales-in-colorado.gif\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/calls-for-social-distancing-spark-demand-for-online-cannabis-sales-in-colorado.gif 620w,https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Checkup-Denver-coronavirus-gif.gif?fit=310%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 310w,https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Checkup-Denver-coronavirus-gif.gif?fit=460%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 460w\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>At The Green Solution, customers approach an express window in the dispensary\u2019s waiting room to receive their goods, so they don\u2019t need to enter the main dispensary floor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s all about customer experience,\u201d said Lopez. \u201cA lot of our customers are repeat customers, so they know exactly what they want.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Whole Meds in Denver\u2019s RiNo district had previously offered online shopping, but discontinued it due to lack of demand, said General Manager Daniel Egusquiza. On Wednesday, the shop re-launched online ordering and had five orders within the first hour.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cConsidering this whole virus scare\u2026 we want to do everything we can to keep the area sanitized and clean,\u201d Egusquiza said.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related right\" \/>\n<p>At Euflora, which has seven locations, online orders accounted for roughly 10% of business, according to Marketing Director Lindsay Hanna. But that increased after the company began heavily promoting the online option through its website and text messages to loyalty program members.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis pandemic has caused people to shift that way faster than they would have normally,\u201d Hanna said. \u201cWe order online for everything else, so why wait in line when you don\u2019t have to?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Marcus at Terrapin Care Station believes this trend could pave the way for services like curbside pickup or cannabis delivery, which Colorado legalized in 2019 for medical sales, but has yet to be adopted by many, if any, municipalities. (Delivery companies in other states <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/2020\/03\/16\/coronavirus-fears-drive-cannabis-delivery-sales-hi.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">report dramatic increases in business<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s literally reshaping how people think about retail marijuana in a legal age,\u201d Marcus said.<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/638279553627526\/\"><strong>Join our Facebook group for the latest updates on coronavirus in Colorado.<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>Calls for the general public to practice social distancing have spurred a trend in online shopping for cannabis products. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5062,52,6811,8264,8266,8212,6813,77,5577,7816,9,5019,8267,7621,6845,7447,1,3,8209,2035,7721,61,1736],"tags":[5063,2632,6816,8265,8268,8215,6818,2655,5580,7818,5022,8269,7623,6846,7452,8210,4603,7744],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9106"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9106\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}