How Delivery Is Changing BC Cannabis Retail (The Numbers)

The conversation about cannabis delivery in BC has largely been framed around compliance: what the LCRB requires, what the enforcement risks are, and how to stay on the right side of the regulatory framework. That framing is important, but it is only half the story.

The other half is a business case that is compelling on its own terms. Delivery is not just a compliance challenge. It is the highest-value sales channel available to most BC cannabis retailers, and the retailers who are running it well are seeing it in their numbers.

What the Data Shows About Delivery Order Values

Canadian cannabis retail data makes the delivery opportunity clear. A survey of more than 350 Canadian cannabis retailers by Breadstack found that approximately one third of delivery orders are worth more than $70 CAD, compared with fewer than one in ten in-store transactions reaching that threshold. In other words, customers who order for delivery consistently spend more than those who walk in.

That pattern is consistent with broader North American cannabis retail data. Online orders carry an Average Order Value roughly 35% higher than walk-in transactions, and digital carts are consistently larger than physical ones, according to Flowhub's cannabis retail trends report.

For context on the Canadian market specifically, online order values through government-operated channels also reflect a similar premium, consistent with the pattern that digital ordering commands higher basket sizes than in-store visits.

The reasons for higher delivery order values are consistent across markets. Customers browsing from home spend more time with the menu. They are not subject to the social pressure of a queue behind them. They add more items to their cart. And without cash in hand as a psychological spending limit, digital transactions tend to be larger.

The Canadian Market Context

Canadian cannabis retail sales reached approximately C$5.5 billion in the fiscal year ending March 2025, up 6.1% year-over-year, according to Statistics Canada. Growth is real but moderating compared to the double-digit increases seen in prior years, and the competitive environment among licensed retailers is intensifying.

There are several thousand licensed cannabis retail stores operating across Canada today, with British Columbia representing a meaningful share of that national footprint. In a market with that many licensed competitors, delivery is increasingly a differentiator rather than a novelty.

Industry surveys consistently find that a large share of retailers still generate only a small fraction of their revenue through e-commerce and delivery, despite the clear order value premium that channel generates. The gap between the available opportunity and the current capture rate is significant.

Why Delivery Customers Are Different

The profile of a cannabis delivery customer differs from an in-store customer in ways that matter for a retailer's business.

Delivery customers tend to be repeat purchasers. The friction of setting up an account, entering a delivery address, and going through the checkout process creates a natural filter that selects for customers who intend to come back. Retailers who deliver well to a customer once have a strong chance of becoming that customer's default supplier.

Delivery customers are also less price-sensitive on average than walk-in customers. Someone who has chosen the convenience of delivery has already made a value judgement. They have traded some price sensitivity for the convenience of not going to the store. That is a customer worth retaining.

The Compliance Barrier Is Real

For many BC retailers who recognize the business case for delivery, the barrier is not the economics. It is the compliance layer that comes with operating a delivery service under LCRB requirements.

Running delivery correctly, with proper dispatch documentation, age verification records, delivery manifests, and driver compliance, is genuinely more complex than running an in-store retail operation. Retailers who try to add delivery informally, coordinating through messaging apps and documenting nothing, are trading compliance risk for operational convenience. The business case for delivery does not improve if the operation results in an enforcement action.

The retailers who are successfully capturing the delivery revenue opportunity are the ones who have solved both sides of the equation: the business model and the compliance infrastructure.

What Retailers Without Delivery Are Leaving Behind

For a licensed BC retailer who is not currently offering delivery, the question is not just what revenue they are missing today. It is what their competitive position will look like as delivery becomes a standard expectation for cannabis customers in urban markets.

The retailers who establish a delivery presence now, build their customer base in that channel, and develop the operational expertise to run it compliantly, are building a competitive advantage that will be harder to replicate the longer it is left unaddressed.

A customer who has found a retailer they trust for delivery is not actively looking for an alternative. Getting into the delivery channel early is not just a revenue decision. It is a customer retention strategy.

The Operational Requirements Are Manageable

One of the reasons retailers hesitate on delivery is the perception that the operational complexity is significant. In practice, the complexity is manageable with the right tooling.

A proper delivery dispatch system handles the order flow, the driver coordination, the compliance documentation, and the customer communication automatically. The dispatcher creates the run, assigns the driver, and monitors status. The driver works through a structured workflow on their phone. The compliance records generate themselves. The manifest exists at the end of every run.

The operational overhead of running delivery this way is meaningful but not prohibitive. For a retailer doing a few hundred orders per month at a delivery order value well above their in-store average, the economics of delivery infrastructure pay for themselves quickly.

Order value and market data referenced in this article is based on the Breadstack Canadian Cannabis Retail Report, the Flowhub Cannabis Retail Trends report, and Statistics Canada cannabis market data. Cannabis regulations change — always verify current delivery requirements with the LCRB directly at gov.bc.ca/lcrb.

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