This Innovative Cannabis Hardware Is Transforming Retail And Accelerating Revenue For Partner Brands

Mike McDonald, president of Dablicator, a California-based Cannabis and Hemp Hardware company, shares the innovative story behind their groundbreaking oil applicator, revolutionizing retail cannabis with its mess-free alternative to syringes for various cannabis concentrates.

With streamlined operations and an agile approach, Dablicator has formed partnerships with 44 brands across 26 markets, generating remarkable growth and success by reinvesting profits into core activities.

Streamlined Success

Affiliated with leading concentrates company Jetty, headquartered in Oakland, California, Dablicator operates as an asset-light company with remote team members.

Its hardware is manufactured and directly drop-shipped to customers, optimizing cost and resource efficiency, while their custom branding facilitates swift global product delivery. 

Driving Incremental Sales: The Dablicator Advantage

With its discreet, brandable and versatile hardware, Dablicator fills a niche and resolves pain points for brands, retailers and consumers.

The device addresses partners' excess oil inventory, facilitating the quick creation of new SKUs, and with its disposable design holding approximately one gram of oil, it is easily recyclable.

A New Retail Category

Aimed to be a turnkey platform for its partners, the company's brand partner program has been critical to turn the device into a whole new retail category.

McDonald said introducing Dablicator as a new device and product category empowers retailers to offer multiple products.

By utilizing existing vape cartridge manufacturing equipment, this approach enables retailers to expand their SKU mix without significant upfront investment, streamlining the process and eliminating the need for extra capital expenditure.

B2B Cannabis Support: Dablicator's Hardware-Centric Strategy

Dablicator provides a comprehensive go-to-market strategy, offering custom assets for in-store marketing, video and social media templates.

Additionally, they offer an array of services to brands, including design, campaign management, assortment, and logistics support, investing significant effort on behalf of the brands without charging for these services, all structured around a hardware purchase agreement.

With a hardware-centric model, they prioritize a turnkey approach to launching a new SKU, choosing not to require any royalties or licensing agreements. The company's revenue comes primarily from hardware sales margins, passing packaging costs to brand partners. 

McDonald stressed the company's focus on expansion rather than immediate massive profitability. They have been cashflow positive since inception, attributing their success to a lean operational strategy and bootstrapping the business from existing orders.

Remarkable Results

In just two years, the company's sales of over 2 million custom-branded tablet locators resulted in an impressive $100 million in retail revenue for its partners. With modest hardware costs, brand partners achieved a substantial profit margin.

McDonald noted renowned partners like Verano VRNOF, Columbia Care CCHWF, and Terrascend TSNDF, among other cannabis companies, have commended the company as the best partner they've ever worked with.

He clarified that the minimum order quantity for custom-branded units is 10,000, considered relatively low, with flexibility for key partners during trial runs.

Dablicator implements a sliding scale for pricing, offering discounts for orders ranging from 10,000 to 100,000 units, leveraging the benefits despite slightly lower margins compared to vape cartridges.

Want to meet other innovative companies like Dablicator? Join us at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in Chicago this Sept 27-28 for its 17th edition. Get your tickets today before prices increase and secure a spot at the epicenter of cannabis investment and branding.

Photos: Dablicator.com