Omnichannel Cannabis: Integrate Cova to Shopify Plus with VL OMNI

It’s been two years since Cannabis was recreationally legalized in Canada. In those two years, new regulations and nuances between Canada’s Provinces and Territories have created both opportunities and unique differences in how Merchants can sell. This year, along with the rise of COVID-19, there has been an overall gradual loosening of where Merchants can legally sell products. VL OMNI has kept abreast of these changes and has developed an integration solution that allows Cannabis Merchants to expand and accelerate their growth.

The most popular and flexible eCommerce platform to sell Cannabis in Canada is, of course, Shopify. Shopify is the system of choice for both the government of Ontario and British Columbia for their Cannabis websites. So, it’s no surprise that Shopify is the top choice of other cannabis e-tailers.

Introducing the Cova Shopify Plus Integration

Because Shopify allows Merchants to sell cannabis online and easily integrate with other solutions to stay compliant with strict government regulations, it’s no wonder that VL OMNI’s Shopify and Cova Connector is as popular as it is!

Seamless online to offline commerce solution

As with all other verticals, Cannabis is no different when it comes to customer expectations. Customers expect a seamless and frictionless experience across all platforms, channels, and devices. Particularly, this year with the global pandemic, it’s extremely important to meet merchants where they are. Giving them engaging experiences when everyone is selling a similar product is key to giving Merchants a competitive edge.

In a recent study, in addition to having bigger shopping baskets, omnichannel shoppers were also more loyal. Within six months after an omnichannel shopping experience, these customers had logged 23% more repeat shopping trips to the retailer’s stores and were more likely to recommend the brand to family and friends than those who used a single channel.

But anyone with an eCommerce store will tell you it is a challenge. New technology can sometimes be difficult to work with. Plus finding and implementing the right platform, managing it, and making sure it aligns with your business goals takes time. Chances are you’re handcuffed by solutions that just aren’t hitting the mark to help you capitalize on this ever-changing landscape.

Imagine you could accelerate your funnel, reduce buying friction, and spend more time on business growth versus technical maintenance?

The Beauty of the VL OMNI Shopify Plus and Cova Connector

With the Cova-Shopify Plus Connector by VL OMNI, cannabis merchants selling in-store and online can easily unify their ecommerce operations with their in-store Cova systems. As a trusted Shopify Plus Technology Partner and with over 26 years of experience moving data, VL OMNI has the expertise and experience in controlled industries to ensure your cannabis business is integrated effectively for the long-term.

Our Connector allows retailers to leverage Cova as their POS and inventory management solution with Shopify as their customer-facing branded portal and secure checkout. Data is passed back and forth between our respective systems via an app built by VL OMNI. Click-and-collect functionality is delivered by an app/theme combo built out by another Plus Partner, Little Rocket.

With VL OMNI, point-to-multipoint, serverless, and bidirectional data integration is our default approach made possible by the cutting-edge technology we’ve built. This means our platform has the ability to move data from a single application to many. The VL OMNI platform also includes discrete business rules via our business rules engine as a part of all of our Connectors, applied directly to the data as it moves between applications.

This means your data is treated exactly how your business needs it to be treated, and cumbersome manual processes become unnecessary. This is especially important in controlled substance industries; documentation and compliance reports need to flow quickly and in the correct form to all necessary portals.

Cova to Shopify Connector Workflows

As orders come in through your Shopify Plus store, our integration platform ensures orders are populated in your Cova system. Products and Inventory will then be updated regularly with your online store to reflect the sale. Similarly, providing shipment updates between the systems.

• Products Create
• Product Update
• Orders / Customer Create
• Inventory
• Price
• Fulfillment
• Other Possible

Benefits of the Cova-Shopify Plus Integration

• Agile to change, apply business rules to the integration as needed
• Timely order fulfillment and improved workflow functionality
• Accurate product availability
• Real-time visibility into order status and more!

VL OMNI provides integrations for merchants that are looking for agile and scalable data flow between their front end Shopify Plus store and their back end solution such as Cova. With over 26 years of integration experience covering systems that often require point-to-multipoint and not just a single workflow, merchants that are seeking that next level of integration can work with VL OMNI to grow their business.