A practical checklist, drawn from 15,000+ in-store demos and 1.6M field observations. If a field activation tool cannot do all seven of these, it was not built for cannabis — it was bolted on for the sales cycle.
The seven requirements
If a tool fails any of these, it was not built for cannabis. Drawn from the operation that ran15,000+ in-store demosand collected1.6M field observations.
Schedule demos and shifts against specific dispensaries — not a generic store list. Assign agents to accounts, with budtender coverage windows that match the menu. The calendar is the operation; it cannot be a side spreadsheet.
Rishi Lite
Rishi Lite: scheduling by door, by shift, with budtender coverage built in.
Horizontal CPG platforms
Horizontal CPG platforms: generic store-call templates that cannot model a dispensary demo calendar.
Compliance changes at the state line. Signage, sampling, reporting — all different. The rules belong in the workflow, not in a PDF the agent forgets to read.
Rishi Lite
Rishi: state-by-state compliance baked into the activation workflow.
Horizontal CPG platforms
Horizontal platforms: a single national compliance template, plus a PDF.
Cannabis activations run on kits — samples, display materials, POS, compliant packaging. The kit is its own operation: assembly, shipment, door-level tracking, return. A tool that does not model kits forces you to track them in a spreadsheet.
Rishi Lite
Rishi Lite: kit assembly, shipment, and door-level return tracked as part of the activation.
Horizontal CPG platforms
Horizontal platforms: SKU calls, no kit concept.
The budtender is the last voice before the purchase. A real activation program trains budtenders, certifies them, and keeps a network — not just visits them. The budtender conversation is the point of the demo.
Rishi Lite
Rishi: 15,000+ demos run with budtender education as the core objective.
Horizontal CPG platforms
Horizontal platforms: no budtender concept. The store clerk is a checkbox.
Every activation should produce GPS-verified check-in, time-stamped photos, and door-tagged proof — in real time, not in a monthly report. If the proof arrives in a spreadsheet two weeks later, it is not proof; it is a story.
Rishi Lite
Rishi Lite: GPS check-in, time-stamped photo evidence, door-tagged, real-time.
Horizontal CPG platforms
Horizontal platforms: self-reported spreadsheets and end-of-month rollups.
Agents submit expenses where they work — in the app, with the receipt, against the shift. Managers approve with one tap. No shoeboxes, no end-of-month reconciliation, no lost receipts.
Rishi Lite
Rishi Lite: in-app expense submission and one-tap manager approval.
Horizontal CPG platforms
Horizontal platforms: expense module bolted on, separate from the activation.
You should be able to try the tool, with your team, before you talk to sales. And the contract you sign should not include a 15% annual auto-renewal escalator buried in the terms. If it does, the vendor's revenue model is lock-in, not value.
Rishi Lite
Rishi Lite: free up to 5 agents, self-serve, no credit card, no escalator — ever.
Horizontal CPG platforms
Horizontal platforms: contact-sales gate, live training required, 15% annual escalator in the ToS.
The scorecard
The same seven requirements, side by side. If your current vendor scores the right column across the board, you are paying enterprise money to run a cannabis operation on a CPG template.
| Requirement | Rishi Lite | Enterprise CPG |
|---|---|---|
| Dispensary scheduling | Built in | Generic store calls |
| Multi-state compliance | State-by-state | National template |
| Kit logistics | Full kit lifecycle | No kit concept |
| Budtender education | Core workflow | Not modeled |
| Real-time proof of work | GPS + photos | Self-reported |
| In-app expenses | One-tap approval | Bolted on |
| Free self-serve onramp | Free up to 5 | Contact sales |
| Renewal escalator | None | 15% / year |
Score your stack
Run the checklist against your current vendor. Then try the cannabis-native version free — up to 5 agents, no escalator, no sales call.
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