The market for CBD is growing fast. These products are in very high demand and are sold by retailers in every U.S. state and well over 40 countries around the world both in store and online.
Like the majority of other industries, the CBD industry is becoming a big talking point to web shop owners and affiliate markets alike. However, ecommerce for CBD oil sellers can be challenging due to the high risk nature of the product and the unknowing market.
One of the biggest challenges that hemp and CBD oil merchants face is the perception of many people that hemp and marijuana are one in the same. In fact, this misconception led to the controversy that caused hemp sales to be banned for nearly 80 years. The reality is, although hemp and marijuana are both part of the cannabis family, they are completely different in cultivation, function, and application. While the use of marijuana is becoming more widely legalized, it has a history of being an illegal drug that is used for recreational purposes. Hemp, on the other hand, is used in a variety of other ways that include clothing, skin products, pet products, dietary supplements (the use of CBD oil), and thousands of other applications. The sale of hemp is completely legal, however the perception that it is essentially the same as marijuana often causes potential buyers to shy away from buying products that are derived from it.
Another challenge that CBD hemp oil sellers face involves marketing their products. There are many marketing avenues available to other ecommerce companies with different products that simply are not made available to CBD oil retailers. Most ecommerce advertising strategies like Google AdWords, Google Shopping, Bing Ads, Facebook, Twitter, and many others, either prohibit CBD oil ads completely or highly restrict what sellers can advertise. That means that search engine optimization (SEO) for CBD oil sellers must be strong, and email marketing campaigns become essential. The content that is posted on ecommerce websites that offer CBD hemp oil for sale must be optimized for higher search rankings, and email marketing campaigns have to be segmented to reach the appropriate target audiences.
Competition for ecommerce sellers of all types of products is huge, but for CBD oil retailers it may be even bigger. The CBD hemp oil market is growing rapidly, and ecommerce sellers are popping up all over the place to meet customer demands. To be a leader in the CBD oil market, staying competitive is challenging and it requires research into the competition, quality products with high ratings and reviews, and a deep understanding of product performance.
Processing credit card payments for customers is another area where ecommerce companies selling hemp-related products run into challenges. Because credit card payment providers use merchant codes for sellers when processing payments, it can get complicated for CBD oil sellers. Merchant codes include categories like utilities, groceries, gas, and many others. Unfortunately, there are not currently any merchant codes that differentiate hemp-related products and marijuana products. So, products that are derived from hemp are categorized along with marijuana and cannabis products. This is why payment processing becomes an issue. While some states have legalized the sale of marijuana, it is still illegal to do so federally. Due to that, many credit card processors will not work with companies selling these types of products.
Even with the above challenges, entering the hemp industry can be a successful and lucrative business choice. The market is ever-growing and the demand for products like CBD hemp oil is high. Additionally, laws, rules, and regulations are changing constantly, so challenges are likely to become less taxing in the future. Globank can help you get CBD merchant accounts if you are or wants to do these products.
