Cova is the leading point-of-sale (POS) software by market share in the North American cannabis industry according to Cannabiz Media’s Point-of-Sale Software in the Cannabis Industry – 2022 Report. Cova’s award-winning software solutions for cannabis retail include dispensary POS, ecommerce, payments, inventory management, compliance, and analytic reporting.

Cannabiz Media spoke with Gary Cohen, CEO of Cova, to learn more about how he and his team use the Cannabiz Media License Database for research, sales, data analysis, strategic decision making, and more.

Why Does Cova Subscribe to the Cannabiz Media License Database?

Cova uses the Cannabiz Media License Database in several key ways: 

• To understand license volume and velocity
• To allocate resources
• To understand market health
• To analyze market share

Gary explains, when states are rolling out or expanding programs, “There’s the volume of licenses, and there’s velocity. We don’t have a way of knowing how states are doing without the Cannabiz Media License Database.”

Based on the data Gary and his team access in the Cannabiz Media License Database, he is able to make critical resource decisions. He shares, “We need the information Cannabiz Media has. It helps us allocate resources. I can toggle in my marketing and the quantity and intensity that we’ll put sales into a market.” 

In addition, the data helps Cova with strategic analysis. “Another way the License Database helps us that we just experienced in the last year and a half is the health of markets,” says Gary. “When I start seeing stores close, I can get a read on which licenses are terminated. I can put that in context of the total number. Cova might not have a good market share in a certain state, but now that I see the data and think about it, does it present an opportunity? Or do I want to hold back?”

Another way the Cannabiz Media License Database helps Gary and his team at Cova is by providing a way to measure market share. “Our industry doesn’t have a service to measure market share, like Nielsen for other industries,” Gary explains. I can go through the information in the License Database and get relative share of my competitors, and I can find out who the players are. I can look at who’s getting the licenses at the retail level. I can look at the names behind that, and I can triangulate on that.”

As an example, Gary shares, “[I could find that] Abe Cannabis is up to their 12^th store. They were never even on our radar. I don’t know him. Maybe we needed to talk to them when they had two stores. Now they have 12. Why aren’t we trying to work with them? I can see that from the Cannabiz Media License Database data. There is no other resource to get this information other than Google Maps where you just keep zooming in and looking for retailer names that are the same. But Google Maps is a horrible way to try to figure out who’s who and what’s what. I can use the Cannabiz Media License Database for that.”

What’s Next for Cova?

Cova is focused on continuing to design technology that simplifies compliance and streamlines complex operations for the cannabis industry. Gary explains, “Cova originally built itself on an open API architecture, and I’ve always thought, eventually, you have to provide a bundle of services. Late last year, we acquired an ecommerce company that was already integrated with Cova. Payments and ecommerce are the biggest things we’ve rolled out lately.”

Looking to the future, Cova has specific growth and development plans to reach its goals. “We’re going to be increasing our partnership with springbig to provide more functionality for CRM and loyalty,” shares Gary. “I think when you take that whole bundle, it makes Cova a more complete solution. But we still offer options. We’re not a closed system. For example, if a client doesn’t want to use our ecommerce solution or our payments tools, the integrations are still there, but we don’t put any friction in or force bundling.”

For more information about Cova and to hear additional insights from Gary Cohen, follow the link and listen to Cannabiz Media’s recent Cannacurio podcast episode featuring Gary as the special guest.

To learn more about how subscribing to the Cannabiz Media License Database can help your business, follow the link and schedule a free demo.

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