Just as we’ve grown from pudgy, freckle-faced, skinned-knees kids, so, too, have our beloved vending machine grown up. Gone are the days of bright red retro Coca-Cola machines, or the shabby grey sandwich dispensers often seen in hospitals. And while you can still satisfy even the basest of cravings with a bag of chips or chocolate bar, vending machines have had a glow-up in recent years.
And by glow-up, we mean smoke-up. Like pot. There are pot vending machines. Not pot noodles, either. Pot as in cannabis.
That’s right, in certain states, there are real, live, fully automated cannabis vending machines right now.
But what in the world of Cheech & Chong are cannabis vending machines? Well, we’re glad you asked.
What is a Cannabis Vending Machine?
It’s pretty self-explanatory really, but we’ll explain it anyway. A cannabis vending machine is a machine that vends cannabis and cannabis products.
Okay, we’re being silly here, but we’re kind of giddy at the prospect if we’re honest. We remember the excitement we used to feel when our parents would give us a dollar and tell us to go get something out of the vending machine. Staring at all the colorful, delicious choices, trying so hard to figure out which one we wanted. It was a highlight of childhood. And now we can have that excitement again when we head to the dispensary, and click through all the wonderful choices of cannabis waiting within the giant machine.
The first cannabis vending machine hit a dispensary in Colorado in 2020, and since then, many different manufacturers have jumped on the bandwagon.
One of the very first cannabis vending machines in Colorado was manufactured by the company Anna – whose kiosks share the name – and can be found at the Star Buds dispensary in Aurora.
According to their Linkedin, “Anna is the first AI-powered self-checkout solution designed to meet the specific needs of cannabis retailers. Headquartered in Boston with offices in Boulder, Colorado, Anna cracks the code for bringing today’s advancements in retail automation to the dispensary floor, while delivering a seamless consumer experience that is equally suited for the booming demands of the CBD industry. Anna facilitates fast, cost-effective, and fully-compliant transactions that maximize revenue per square foot and lower operating costs for THC and CBD retailers.”
Anna’s display is fully interactive, climate-controlled, and is integrated with age verification software. With a fully interacted display, dispensaries are capable of uploading their entire menu, giving customers an easy, seamless experience, while still being able to have many different products to choose from.
From flowers, to bud, to pre-rolls, and edibles, to tinctures, to oils, and everything in between, pot vending machines are the future of cannabis retail.
The Pros and Cons of Cannabis Vending Machines
As with any new technology, there are going to be some hiccups. This rings true with cannabis vending machines as well, which have their fair share of disadvantages to go along with the obvious advantages.
To start, one of the best things about cannabis vending machines is their efficiency. A dispensary’s customer throughput can be vastly improved with cannabis kiosks, as can wait times. On top of that, cannabis vending machines can give access to smaller, more remote communities that simply can’t support a full brick-and-mortar dispensary.
However, there are still some challenges that cannabis vending machines will have to face in the coming years before they become a greater part of the cannabis retail landscape.
While machines like Anna boast age verification software, this can be tricky, though, as technology isn’t foolproof and there’s more of a chance of fakes slipping through than if there was a human checking ID at the counter.
It will also be difficult to get through regulations that “favor human oversight of cannabis transactions,” says MJBizDaily.
The size of the machine will also play a role in whether customers will prefer them to brick-and-mortar dispensaries because smaller kiosks may make for a limited capacity, which will, in turn, reduce the selection of products available to consumers to best sellers or new-to-market products.
While cannabis vending machines are still very much in their infancy and are currently only available in select states that allow businesses to have a cannabis vending license, there’s a good chance that they will be the future of cannabis retail. As every other industry begins to roll out self-checkout options, so, too, will the marijuana industry continue to find ways to capitalize on it.
