You’ve built a brand. You’ve got great packaging, clean messaging, and maybe even a few loyal fans.
But here’s the hard truth: once your product hits the dispensary shelf, it’s out of your hands.
The budtender is now your spokesperson.
The shelf is your billboard.
And if your brand isn’t showing up right? You’ll never know unless you send someone to check.
That’s where Above Board comes in.
We’re not just for dispensaries. We’re the secret weapon cannabis brands use to find out what’s really happening at the retail level.
What Brands Miss Without Secret Shoppers
If you’re relying on sales reports, field reps, or store partners to tell you how your brand is doing in-store… you’re getting half the picture.
Here’s what we see all the time:
- Your promo is running… but no one mentioned it.
- Your product is on the shelf… behind six others.
- Your brand name? Mispronounced, forgotten, or just not mentioned at all.
If you’re not auditing how your brand is showing up in dispensaries, you’re losing control of your retail story.
What a Brand-Focused Secret Shopper Can Uncover
Above Board sends trained, anonymous shoppers into real dispensaries to evaluate your brand not the store as a whole. Here’s what we look at:
Shelf Presence & Placement
Are your products visible? Easy to find? Or buried behind better-displayed competitors?
Budtender Knowledge & Advocacy
Do staff know your brand? Can they explain it? Do they recommend it?
Promotion Compliance
Are in-store staff honoring the BOGO or discount you paid for or is it sitting in the back, forgotten?
Display & Merchandising Execution
Are your branded assets (tent cards, risers, signage) actually being used and used correctly?
Packaging Recall
Can a shopper remember your brand name after they leave? Did it make an impression?
Budtenders Sell What They Know
Here’s the reality: the average customer asks the budtender what they should buy.
So if your brand isn’t being mentioned, explained, or confidently recommended… you’re invisible.
Secret shoppers give you a window into those interactions without tipping anyone off.
You Can’t Be Everywhere. We Can.
Your team can’t visit every dispensary. Even if you could, the store acts differently when someone from the brand shows up.
Our shoppers go in as customers.
No heads up. No clipboard. No bias. Just honest feedback.
We help cannabis brands:
- Catch misrepresentation or misinformation early
- Identify stores that are nailing it (and those that aren’t)
- Improve field training, display strategy, and sales team focus
- Track your brand performance against competitors — shelf to sale
Ready to See What’s Really Happening?
You’ve done the hard work building your brand. Now make sure it’s actually landing in-store.
Above Board gives you the unfiltered truth straight from the sales floor.