When 1922 Cannabis signed a lease on a retail space in Ontario, they expected challenges. What they didn’t expect was an 18-month wait to open their doors and start generating revenue.
Licensing delays meant paying rent and carrying costs with zero income, forcing co-founder Mike Dunn and his team to think differently about how the business would eventually operate. From the beginning, it was clear their path forward would depend on convenience, not just foot traffic.
That instinct proved right. Delivery started as a modest part of the business, accounting for roughly 20% of sales in the first year; today, 1922 operates an online-first model with roughly 70% of revenue coming from delivery and online orders. But the journey wasn’t without obstacles.
“We were losing one in three orders at checkout to AVS errors and overly aggressive controls,” Mike explains. For a retailer built on repeat ordering and delivery, failed payments weren’t just a technical issue – they were a direct threat to the business model. Fixing checkout meant protecting revenue that 1922 had already worked hard to earn.
That challenge ultimately led 1922 to Cova Pay, Cova’s cashless payments solution for cannabis retailers that’s designed to reduce friction without compromising security.
A Business Built for Convenience
At 1922 Cannabis, convenience isn’t a feature. It’s the foundation upon which the entire operation is built.
Rather than chasing foot traffic, the team designed the business around speed, clarity, and repeatability. Delivery is treated as a core workflow, not a side channel, with systems built to handle high order volume, tight fulfillment windows, and constant customer communication.
“We’re not an acquisition business, we’re a rebuy business,” says Mike. “That’s how it compounds.”
That focus on repeat business puts enormous pressure on the checkout experience. When customers are ordering frequently – sometimes multiple times a month – even a small failure rate creates outsized damage. Missed orders cost more than lost revenue; they erode trust and disrupt momentum. And as delivery volume increased, 1922 discovered that the weakest link in the chain wasn’t demand, logistics, or fulfillment. It was payments.
Why 1922 Turned to Cova Pay
By the time payments became a serious issue, 1922 was already running on Cova POS. The problem wasn’t the retail system; it was the integrated payments layer sitting on top of it.
As order volume increased, Mike began noticing a troubling pattern: legitimate customers were being blocked at payment due to overly aggressive fraud controls. Orders that should have converted were being cancelled automatically, often without clear visibility into why.
The juice just wasn’t worth the squeeze. In trying to avoid a relatively small amount of fraud, the system was blocking tens of thousands of dollars in real sales – revenue that had already cleared every other hurdle in the customer journey.
“Before Cova Pay, fraud settings were choking our checkout. One in three orders were getting cancelled,” Mike explains. “We lost $56,000 in sales to avoid $1,300 in chargebacks.”
For a delivery-first retailer built on repeat ordering, that kind of friction was unsustainable. Failed checkouts didn’t only hurt conversions; they eroded trust, increased the burden on customer support, and put the entire rebuy model at risk. That pressure pushed 1922 to take a hard look at payment solutions, and the company ultimately switched to Cova Pay.
With built-in 3DS2 and smarter fraud controls, Cova Pay dramatically reduced false declines while maintaining strong protection. And the impact? Mike says it was immediate.
“Switching to Cova Pay was night and day,” he says. “AVS issues basically disappeared, and we’ve had one chargeback since.”
Reliable Checkout as a Foundation for Growth
For 1922 Cannabis, fixing their checkout flow was mission-critical. With Cova Pay in place, payments stopped being a daily concern. Orders now move through checkout cleanly, customers complete purchases without friction, and the team can focus on what really drives growth: fulfillment, communication, and an impeccable retail experience.
Just as important, Mike and his team gained visibility and confidence in their payments stack. Rather than guessing what’s happening at checkout, they can make informed decisions about the controls in place and how the business operates.
Looking ahead, 1922 plans to continue refining its online and delivery experience, unifying how orders flow through the business, and scaling a model designed around convenience and repeat customers – none of which works without dependable cannabis retail infrastructure at the core.
With Cova Pay integrated into the stack, payments are no longer a bottleneck – and for 1922, it’s made all the difference. If you're a Canadian cannabis retailer, and you’d like to see how Cova Pay can help improve the checkout process for you and your customers, book a free consultation today and we’ll walk you through it!