4 Technologies that Can Positively Impact the CBD Industry

“The birth of CBD” and the great transformation that we are witnessing in the cannabidiol industry are due to the 2018 Farm Bill that was signed into law. The bill removed hemp otherwise known as cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) and derivatives of cannabis which contain low concentrations of the psychoactive compound delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), from the definition of marijuana in the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). 

It specifies that hemp shall contain no more than 0.3 percent THC on a dry weight basis. While this has given a boost to the global cannabidiol oil (CBD Oil) market that is projected to hit the USD 3197.2 million market cap by the end of 2026, with a CAGR of 33.5% during 2021-2026, technological impacts on the CBD oil market, must be taken into consideration.

Technological developments such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, Big Data, and natural language processing (NLP) are transforming the way businesses are conducted and can greatly enhance productivity, consumer satisfaction, and marketing in the CBD oil industry. 

Sentiment analysis 

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A CBD brand needs to know how consumers feel about its product and those of the competition in the market. This you can achieve by deploying an automated process to analyze a text and interpret the sentiments behind it. 

With the evolution of machine learning and text analytics, you can use algorithms to classify statements as positive, negative, and neutral. Machine learning tools can now differentiate between context, sarcasm, and misapplied words.

One thing most CBD brands talk about is how their products can conquer everyday stress. However, you need reviews from your customers to actually know if your product satisfies them and where to possibly improve the customer experience.

CBD brands can leverage sentiment analysis to discover customers’ pain points and their feelings about products to improve customer experience. Consumers leave reviews at big eCommerce sites such as Amazon and eBay, which these brands can access.

The need for sentiment analysis is because the reviews can be structured, semi-structured, or unstructured. Since it’s vital for any brand that wants to remain relevant in the highly competitive CBD global market to ensure customer satisfaction, you must endeavor to understand your customers.

Big Data

It’s the era of Big Data. Every activity now revolves around data. The World Economic Forum predicts that 463 exabytes of data will be generated each day globally by 2025.

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A very good percentage of this data is user-generated content (UGC) of which consumers are a part. Big Data has tremendously changed the way business is run. Notwithstanding the industry you are in, the focus is now on the customer.

If you are not consumer-centric, you are doing your brand great disfavor; and you have the data to ensure an enhanced customer experience. Big Data also ensures that you can embark on target marketing, reduce operational costs, and improve the efficiency of existing processes.

For instance, the CBD laws still vary according to states in the U.S. It’s, therefore, important that you know your market and how to focus vigorously on your consumers.

Big data technologies can help CBD companies to store large volumes of data while enabling significant cost benefits. The technologies CBD companies leverage should include cloud-based analytics and Hadoop. 

They can analyze information and improve their decision-making processes. Furthermore, they can apply technology to help in mitigating data breaches which have become commonplace since cybercriminals see the CBD industry as very lucrative.

Proper inventory management

The size of the CBD market makes it compulsory that you must have quality inventory management. There is the need to keep track of happenings in the supply chain as well as the distribution.

If you have a slow-moving distribution, you’ll end up with higher product overall costs, leading to a higher selling price that you don’t need to ensure competitiveness. However, this can be greatly reduced by the pairing of AI with inventory management in the CBD industry. 

Brands that can implement this will realize great improvements, by integrating AI and machine learning technology, CBD brands can begin to create smart data-driven manufacturing and distribution centers.

AI is seriously filling the gaps created by traditional inventory management tools to ensure there are real-time inventory management dynamics that can be used to control inventory stock levels. CBD brands can deploy AI technologies to predict, recommend, and even act with or without human intervention.

The following are some ways AI can be utilized for inventory management by CBD brands:

• The ability to predict what demand will be like over a long period.
• Using data analysis for effective tracking of stock levels. 
• Automatically ordering the right quantity of raw materials to eliminate waste. 
• Making insightful business decisions to increase ROI.

Customer service

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The first point of call for most customers is customer service. Most times, how customer service handles a potential customer determines if the customer will onboard.

The rate of conversion can, therefore, be dependent on customer service. CBD brands should be cautious of the failings of customer service teams and deploy AI to mitigate this.

Chatbots can be incorporated to give 24/7 service. Powering chatbots with AI has ensured that they are now more lifelike and multi-functional. Chatbots have started conversing with customers in their natural languages, taking orders, making bookings, and even scheduling appointments.

CBD brands even have the opportunity of integrating AI-Powered chatbots into their operations to boost customer engagement, enhance services, and save costs. Chatbots make use of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and AI to understand what a customer says as well as the nuances in a sentence and then process the information to answer your query. 

Conclusion

Going by the fact that the CBD market started flourishing with the 2018 Farm Bill, you can say that the market is relatively young. However, the report that 14% of U.S. adults are using CBD products shows that “the race has started.”

It’s, therefore, imperative for any CBD brand that has not incorporated technology into its processing to do so. From the cultivation stage to the distribution, technological development can positively impact the CBD industry.

Relevancy in the industry will be hinged on technology adoption.