Interview edited for clarity and length.
Interview by Quart Hellendrung
Intro
Before he led sales at Rank Really High, Alex Abrams was on the other side of the table, an early client for Rank Really High, searching for a better dispensary ecommerce experience. What started as a quest for a custom menu and usable data turned into a friendship with CEO Dan Mondello, eye-opening results, and ultimately a pivot from plant-touching operations to “selling picks and shovels” in cannabis tech. Today, as Director of Sales at Rank Really High, Alex channels seven years of dispensary-side experience into helping retailers build websites that actually convert, and brands that actually stick.
Q&A
Quart: What made you want to join the Rank Really High team?
Alex: I first worked with Rank as a client. The industry back then was a website plus an iframe, totally disjointed. I wanted a different dispensary ecommerce experience. I wanted a custom menu that matched our brand and real data that connected website behavior to purchases. Dan led with a simple promise: “If I can’t change your life by making you more revenue, why are we talking?” We launched, got the custom menu, got integrated data, and online sales nearly doubled in six months. That impact, and the broader strategy behind it, pulled me from the plant-touching side into tech.
Quart: A lot has changed since those early days. What’s stayed the same at Rank Really High and what’s evolved?
Alex: The mission is unchanged: bring the best tech to cannabis retailers and to the dispensary ecommerce market. What’s evolved is how comprehensive and scalable, our approach is. We’ve opened the door to direct POS integrations and best-in-class partners, and we package the core value drivers together: data, customization & conversion, and SEO. We’ve also stacked the team with talent and refined how we execute so we can stay on that leading edge for clients.
Quart: How does your dispensary experience shape how you sell and support now?
Alex: I know the stress operators live with. When you’ve dealt with inspectors, investors, shifting pricing, and a thousand fires a day, you learn what actually helps. That perspective keeps me focused on not wasting anyone’s time, quickly qualifying fit, speaking the operator’s language, and delivering solutions they don’t need a PhD to use. The website is one slice of the day; it has to pull its weight without adding chaos.
Quart: Where do you see cannabis e-commerce heading in the next 1–3 years?
Alex: The market will reward innovation that delivers results at a reasonable price. There’s always an appetite for simplicity, one vendor, one login, but simplicity that caps growth won’t cut it in competitive markets. I see more flexible stacks, deeper integrations, and smart collaboration among innovators. All-in-one tools will remain the economic option for some, but growth-minded retailers will lean into whatever actually moves the needle.
Quart: Why do many dispensaries still gravitate to “simpler” solutions?
Alex: Time and risk. Operators face constant fires, and some have been burned by over-promised tech. A simple stack feels safer. But like a 1955 car, simplicity can mean limits, it might be easier, but it won’t win the race. Time-savers are great, but not if they come at the expense of revenue growth.
Quart: What’s the biggest challenge dispensaries face right now, especially around e-com?
Alex: Price compression and competition are top of the list. On the side of dispensary ecommerce, the challenge is a disconnect between marketing and the website. You can pay for traffic, but if the site doesn’t convert, if specials aren’t surfaced where people shop, if the path to purchase is clunky, you’re leaving money on the table. The tech has to enable the marketing strategy, not fight it.
Quart: How do you think about brand vs. conversion? Does leading with story ever get in the way?
Alex: I love when stores are woman-owned, veteran-owned, minority-owned. Tell that story. But don’t let it block the purchase path. Dedicate the homepage to shopping: deals, discovery, seamless paths to add-to-cart, then weave brand throughout and offer deeper storytelling for those who want it. If your menu is an iframe that looks like everyone else’s, your brand story disappears at the moment of purchase. A custom, shoppable experience is how you make the brand felt.
Quart: If you could give dispensaries one piece of e-commerce advice, what would it be?
Alex: Build the website you would want to shop on. If you wouldn’t enjoy navigating your own site, why would your customers? And a technical add-on: not all traffic makes you money. Local, high-intent traffic beats viral, irrelevant traffic every day.
Quart: What excites you most about what Rank Really High is doing right now?
Alex: Empowerment. We’re turning sophisticated capabilities into simple, powerful controls. Pair that with deeper partner integrations and you get a dispensary ecommerce platform where operators can execute their ideas fast. That combination, ease of use + best-in-class tech, is why I believe we’ve built the strongest retail solution in cannabis.
Book some time with Alex Abrams to talk more about how Rank Really High can help your dispensary here: rankreallyhigh.com/demo