Weedmaps and Leafly were two of the original cannabis websites, and both continue to dominate online traffic for cannabis marketplaces. You know you should take advantage of a platform, but which one is better for your dispensary? We are breaking down each platform to help you decide which one is the best fit for you and your business.
Looking from the top down, Weedmaps is primarily focused on finding nearby dispensaries whereas Leafly has a more comprehensive database of products and strains alongside dispensary information. Weedmaps has been around longer, but Leafly sees far more traffic. Each company is now public on the NASDAQ and has expanded their offerings beyond the basic services they started with. So, which should you pick?
Founded in 2008, Weedmaps was the ultimate directory of cannabis dispensaries in the United States. The “stoner’s paradise” quickly became a destination for cannabis consumers to connect and share experiences during the early days of legalization. In 2010, Weedmaps was purchased by General Cannabis Incorporated, which also purchased Marijuana.com shortly after in 2011. Come 2013, General Cannabis Incorporated sold all assets back to the Weedmaps’ original founders Justin Hartfield and Keith Hoerling. Since then, Weedmaps has been focused on monetizing its platform and advocating for cannabis rights. In 2021, the company went public via SPAC transaction with the ticker $MAPS.
Leafly was founded in 2010 as a cannabis use and education platform. Leafly boasts more than 5,000 strains listed online, millions of product reviews, and thousands of educational articles. Leafly was acquired in 2011 by Privateer Holdings and the original founders Scott Vickers, Brian Wansolich, and Cy Scott went on to create Headset, a cannabis analytics platform. Leafly broke ground as the first cannabis company to place an advertisement in Times Square, and today it is the most visited cannabis website. In 2021, Leafly was also taken public via a SPAC with Merida Capital.
As of 2021, both Weedmaps and Leafly claim to have more than 10 million active users. These days both companies rake in the majority of profits by selling advertising to retailers and brands.
So which platform is the best to list on?
That answer will mostly depend on where your local customers prefer to comparison shop. In many western states, Leafly is the dominant marketplace whereas Weedmaps sees a far higher amount of monthly users in California and the Midwest. In most cases, it is valuable to have a profile on both websites, but priority and ad spending should be given to the one that your local audience uses the most.
No matter which marketplace you choose to list on, businesses should always make sure that they are working to convert customers to loyal shoppers on their own domain. This is incredibly important for retailers in order to gain – and retain – full access to customers' details and insights. In a data-driven world, your business’s customer data is precious. By using a platform like Dispense's SEO Menu, retailers can retain 100% ownership of all customer, product, and order data while still being able to process orders from both Weedmaps and Leafly seamlessly. For a full list of Dispense integrations, click here.
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