SCARBOROUGH, Maine – According to new CBD start-up information provided by the Maine-based CBD payment solution Organic Payment Gateways, Washington, D.C.; Vermont; and Colorado have the highest rates of online CBD start-ups when adjusted for population.
Washington is the most active. Due to the long history of cannabis acceptance in this pair of states and in D.C., beginning with medical marijuana and culminating with both recreational marijuana and the prevalence of hemp-based, low-THC CBD, this news is not surprising.
The low density of start-ups in places like Utah, Louisiana, Arkansas, the Carolinas and the Dakotas is also not surprising given the relatively slow rates in which those states have adopted more lenient cannabis regulations.
Although the data released by Organic Payment Gateways focused only on new CBD sites inquiring directly with the company about online payment processing, their broad national reach and geographically agnostic approach add validity to the data. Additionally, the high rates in places like Vermont and low rates in places like the Carolinas all pass what could be called “the sniff test” in terms of expectations.
States like Virginia, Georgia, Texas and Oklahoma are reasonably tolerant of low-THC cannabidiols. The moderate but healthy levels of online CBD start-up inquiries in those states seem to reflect the regulatory environments.
Cyber Stores, Friendly Places
What is most surprising about the data is, paradoxically, its lack of surprises. States that have tolerant cannabis cultures and regulations seem to foster far more online CBD start-ups than those that don’t. The inverse is also true, according to Organic Payment Gateways’ internal data.
This does not mean that every state and region lines up perfectly with expectations. On the surprising side, California and Oregon show only modest online CBD start-up activity when adjusted for population. According to Alex Roy, president of E-commerce 4 LLC, which is the parent company of OrganicPaymentGateways.com, the difference may have to do with market maturity.
“The data we used for this internal study was comprised of start-up processing inquiries from the past 12 months,” said Roy. “The fact that California and Oregon show only moderate activity may have to do with the relative maturity of the CBD markets in those states, in addition to the high level of established e-commerce businesses that have historically operated in tech-heavy markets like California.”
Platform Flexiblity
Based on previous information published within the “CBD Basics” section of the Organic Payment Gateways Payment Gateways website, online start-ups are flocking to familiar site builders and shopping carts like WooCommerce and Shopify to build their online CBD stores, along with a select but growing number of businesses that are choosing more marketing-specific platforms like ClickFunnels – regardless of region.
More information as well as a ranked list of states by online CBD start-up activity is available at https://organicpaymentgateways.com/cbd-start-up-activity-by-state/.
Organic Payment Gateways serves U.S.-based CBD businesses with easily integrated payment gateways, allowing CBD website retailers who already sell online using the shopping cart and platform they already have in place.
