Following an announcement in June, the OCS now confirms that starting August 23, it will begin providing more detailed wholesale metrics to cannabis producers.

The Ontario Cannabis Store says the more granular data is intended to assist suppliers’ sales and operations planning and lead to improved inventory availability, fulfilment, and delivery service levels for cannabis stores in the province. The changes will be integrated into the OCS’ existing Supplier Data Program.

In an announcement posted on the OCS’ B2B platform on June 25, the Crown corporation said it would be offering its cannabis producer-partners “greater visibility into the specific authorized stores that are purchasing their products through the OCS,” which includes the types of products each of these stores order from OCS each day at the SKU-level and the number of units ordered from OCS by each retailer, by SKU, each day.

These are changes many Canadian cannabis producers have been asking provincial cannabis agencies like the OCS to provide for some time. Such figures will allow producers to better understand what products are selling better in what parts of the province, providing an opportunity for more targeted sales measures. Alberta and BC have provided similar data programs for producers/suppliers. 

The OCS offers two levels to its supplier data program. Level one allows OCS suppliers to access insight into their products’ sales performance across the province. A level two data subscription also provides access to more broad sales figures about other producer/supplier sales. Data for a product portfolio will be available for both Level 1 and 2 subscribers at no additional charge. 

Suppliers will only receive detailed and specific SKU and store-level wholesale sales data for their own products, not competitors. This information will only come from the OCS, not from any retailer point-of-sale metrics or retailer inventory data. Suppliers also cannot provide the store-level wholesale sales information from OCS to anyone outside of their organization. 

Providing suppliers with this sales data will also build upon the OCS’ Flow Through distribution channel, ensuring suppliers can better forecast sales demands. Flow Through allows retailers to order products the OCS does not typically carry in the world’s largest cannabis distribution warehouse.

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