BLAZE Unveils Herbie AI Budtender to Hyper-Personalize Cannabis E-Commerce

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Apr 02, 2026, 08:00 ET

ANAHEIM, Calif., April 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- BLAZE, the industry-leading retail technology suite for cannabis dispensaries, today announced the launch of Herbie AI Budtender, a groundbreaking virtual cannabis concierge designed to revolutionize the digital shopping experience. This launch is a continuation of a strategic pivot for BLAZE into a new era of AI-driven automation, prioritizing labor savings and increased digital ROI for cannabis retailers.

Herbie AI bridges the gap between massive digital online menus and the individual consumer. Through intuitive, conversational prompts, it navigates hundreds of SKUs to provide curated recommendations based on desired effects, preferences, and mood.

In an era of 1,000+ SKU menus, Herbie AI solves "choice paralysis" as a 24/7 conversational budtender. Unlike traditional, rigid chatbots, Herbie utilizes a foundational LLM enriched with deep cannabis context and real-time catalog synchronization. By understanding intent, nuance, and slang, Herbie provides human-like expertise to resolve complex, sales-specific queries and drive conversions.

"Herbie represents the next chapter of the BLAZE ecosystem," said Scott Roehrick, VP of ECOM and AI at BLAZE. "We aren't just giving retailers a chatbot; we're giving them an expert virtual budtender that is closer to a human than a bot. By combining Advanced Product Knowledge with Hyper-Personalization, Herbie is a sales powerhouse that bridges the trust gap between the digital menu and the in-store experience, turning browsers into buyers."

The Herbie AI Toolkit Includes:

AI Recommendations: Utilizing the BLAZE AI Recommendation service, Herbie personalizes every response by analyzing individual purchase history against real-time local shop trends.
Enriched Catalog: Automatically fill in product gaps with known terpenes, flavors, and expected effects to explain why a certain strain is right for the user.
Deal Expert: Proactively explains complex promotions to help users "unlock" maximum value.
Cart Awareness & In-Chat "Add to Cart": Reduces friction by allowing users to build their bag during the conversation.
Purchase Memory: Recalls a user's last three orders for frictionless re-ordering.

Herbie is engineered for seamless integration across BLAZE's entire consumer-facing ecosystem, providing a unified experience through BLAZE Sites, E-commerce, Mobile Apps, and Self-Serve Kiosks. This launch reinforces BLAZE's commitment to deploying cutting-edge technology at a rapid pace, ensuring clients remain at the forefront of cannabis retail innovation.

Herbie AI is available now for all BLAZE partners. Retailers looking to enhance their online store and increase AOV can learn more and schedule a demo at blaze.me.

About BLAZE: BLAZE is a comprehensive cannabis technology suite for dispensaries and delivery services, providing point-of-sale, payment processing, and e-commerce solutions. BLAZE is committed to innovation and building the tools retailers need to scale efficiently in a complex regulatory landscape.

Media Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE BLAZE