Market Intelligence & You
What Is Market Intelligence
Market intelligence is the ongoing collection and analysis of market data — prices, brands, demand, competitors, product trends, and regulations. In practice, it means scraping menus, tracking price changes, and watching which brands rise or fall. The point isn’t just knowing what is happening — it’s understanding why.
For example, sales data might show 2-gram disposables trending up. Market intelligence explains whether that’s from tourist traffic, discounts, or shifting consumer habits.
What’s in the Service
When companies sell “market intelligence,” they’re packaging:
Dashboards showing category and brand performance
Competitive reports highlighting who’s discounting or growing
Consumer insights on basket size and frequency
Trend forecasting using SKU velocity
Regulatory tracking for new licenses or closures
Major providers include Headset, BDSA, CannIntelligence, CannaSpyglass, Cannabis Benchmarks, and Lit Alerts — with pricing ranging from about $80/month for basic reports to $500/month per market or far more for enterprise coverage.
How Operators Use It
Market intelligence helps teams:
Set pricing and promotions strategically
Optimize inventory and avoid stockouts
Identify emerging categories or gaps in the market
Benchmark brand performance against competitors
Anticipate price compression and shifting consumer trends
Strengthen collaboration between retailers and brands
The Catch
Most providers collect retailer POS data — meaning if you’re part of a large network, you’re often paying to see your own numbers labeled as “market averages.” The result: duplicate data, echo-chamber analytics, and inaccurate product naming. Even “clean” datasets still require internal normalization to match your SKU and pricing structure.
A Smarter Alternative
Instead of renting half-broken insights, you can build your own system. With simple tools like Google Sheets, basic scripting, and a bit of structure, you can scrape menus from Jane, Weedmaps, Leafly, and Dutchie, normalize product data, and generate real, actionable market intelligence — faster, cheaper, and 100% yours.
