Cannabis retailers in Manitoba are not taking their "essential service" status for granted during the virus-induced crisis and are redesigning their services to maximize social distancing.

It has likely encouraged the industry to roll out some e-commerce technology earlier than might otherwise have been the case.

Some offer home delivery and most cannabis retailers in Manitoba are now providing a "click and collect" service, allowing customers to order online and then pick up and pay at the store.

Winnipeg-based Delta 9, which has four stores in the province, now offers a touchless service, where payment is made online and staff deliver the product to the customer’s car.

Ian Chadsey, Delta 9’s vice-president of corporate affairs, said it’s the kind of change caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that may alter the lay of the land post-crisis.

"I think a few things are going to change," he said.

Late last week the Ontario government dropped cannabis from its list of essential businesses allowed to operate during the current lockdown, but Manitoba continues to allow stores to operate and retailers are trying to be as careful as they can be.

Canopy Growth Corporation, which owns Tweed and Tokyo Smoke cannabis retail stores, closed all 23 of its stores three weeks ago, but has reopened some of them this week allowing customers to order online and come into the stores, show their IDs and pay for their products — getting in and out of stores quickly.

Jordan Sinclair, Canopy’s vice-president of communications, said "We made the proactive decision to temporarily close our corporately owned Tweed and Tokyo Smoke stores so we could quickly determine a safe path forward during the COVID-19 outbreak. We have implemented additional precautionary measures in the stores that have reopened and with the rollout of the click and collect program, we are confident that we can service select communities in the safest, fastest way possible."

Matt Ryan, vice-president of marketing for National Access Cannabis and Meta Cannabis Supply stores, said the COVID-19 outbreak has caused the whole industry to pivot.

Meta has eight stores operating in Manitoba (one location at Long Plains First Nation has temporarily closed) with slightly reduced hours.

Last weekend, it launched its own version of click and collect.

"We all wanted to get to this point," Ryan said. "It has been expedited because of the uncertainty of the pandemic. It’s forced technology development to happen quicker."

Meanwhile, cannabis sales are strong during the lockdown where many Winnipeggers are working from home.

Delta 9 has implemented a number of social-distancing measures in its stores (it has two in Winnipeg, one in Brandon and one in Thompson), it is providing a $2 per hour bonus for front-line workers on the job through the current crisis, and its click and collect system will limit the time customers spend in-store.

The company recently reported that fourth quarter revenue, up to the end of Dec., 2019, was double what it was for the same period in 2018 which was the first quarter of legal recreational cannabis sales in Canada.

Delta 9 has other store locations developed in Winnipeg and Alberta and is just awaiting the completion of licence before they open.

This week it announced its second micro-cultivation partner, Oliver Acres Ltd., operating as Cypress Craft, in the rural municipality of North Cypress, Man.

Delta 9 provides turnkey grow pod operation in the form of a fitted-out shipping container, complete with all of the genetics and growing support. Oliver Acres is the second Delta 9 micro-cultivation partner to receive a licence from Health Canada. The company has sold 89 growing pods with many more micro-cultivation licences pending.

Delta 9 provides the production facility design and construction, development of standard operating procedures and sanitation programs, and assists in the Health Canada licensing, as well as other services supporting the acquisition of the Health Canada licence for those micro-cultivation partners.