Placemat guides
How BC cannabis stores order inventory: Central vs Direct Delivery
A plain-English guide to the two ways product reaches your shelves in BC, and where the hours go each week.
October 16, 2026 · 6 min read
Every licensed non-medical cannabis store in British Columbia buys its products through the province’s wholesaler, the BC Liquor Distribution Branch (BCLDB). In practice, product reaches your shelves in one of two ways: Central, from the BCLDB warehouse, or Direct Delivery, shipped straight from the producer to your store.
Most stores use both. Each has its own ordering steps, timing and paperwork, and that is where much of a buyer’s week disappears.
Central: ordering through BC Cannabis Wholesale
Central orders are placed on the BC Cannabis Wholesale website, one store account at a time. You browse the catalogue, add products by the case, and check out. The order ships from the BCLDB distribution centre to your store on its delivery schedule.
When an order ships, BCLDB issues an advance shipping notice (ASN) listing what is on the way. Many point-of-sale systems can import the ASN so you can receive the shipment without retyping it.
What to watch on Central
- Order by the case. Case sizes vary by product. For a smaller store, one case of a slow seller can sit for weeks and tie up cash.
- Know your order window. Order cutoffs and delivery days depend on your location. Missing a cutoff can mean a week with gaps on the shelf.
- Start from what sold, not the catalogue. Scrolling a catalogue of more than a thousand products is slow. Start from each store’s sales and stock, then add new products on purpose.
Direct Delivery: ordering from producers
Through the Direct Delivery program, eligible producers ship product straight to your store instead of through the BCLDB warehouse. It is often where you will find craft brands, small-batch drops and products that are not carried centrally.
What to watch on Direct Delivery
- Every producer is different. Minimum orders, lead times and how they take orders (email, form or portal) vary from one producer to the next.
- More orders to track. Ten producers means ten purchase orders, ten confirmations and ten deliveries to receive.
- Receiving takes care. Make sure what arrives matches what you ordered, then get it into your POS so your stock counts stay right.
When a product is available both ways
Some products can be ordered either centrally or direct. Don’t assume one is always better. Check whether the product is actually orderable on Central this week, then compare case size, lead time and the producer’s minimum. The right channel can change from week to week.
Rules change. BCLDB updates its programs and processes from time to time. Check BCLDB’s current guidance for retailers before changing how you order.
Where the hours go
For one store, a weekly order is a few hours of work. For several stores, it multiplies:
- checking stock and sales for every store, product by product
- typing each store’s Central order into its own account
- writing and chasing purchase orders with each Direct Delivery producer
- receiving everything back into the POS
None of it is hard. There’s just a lot of it, and it comes back every week.
How Placemat helps
Placemat sits on top of your POS. Every morning it reads each store’s sales and stock and builds the next order inside your budget, already split between Central and Direct Delivery. One tap fills each store’s BC Cannabis Wholesale cart, and producer purchase orders are ready to send. You review the few lines that need a decision and give the final OK.