Can Throughput help a hemp or CBD shop take card payments when most processors shut us down?
Yes. Throughput routes federally legal, hemp-derived products (0.3% THC or less) to high-risk card processors built for the category, and routes plant-touching THC to bank rails like Aeropay's pay-by-bank ACH, so a Visa or Mastercard charge only ever carries a compliant hemp SKU. This avoids the freezes and terminations that hit mainstream platforms: PayPal froze $9,000 belonging to CBD retailer Friends NYC and permanently locked the account for alleged "sale of narcotics," even though hemp-derived CBD is legal under the 2018 Farm Bill, prompting a lawsuit for over $100,000 in damages ([Law Street Media](https://lawstreetmedia.com/news/agriculture/paypal-sued-for-freezing-account-of-cbd-products-seller/)). We never build cashless-ATM workarounds or miscode marijuana as hemp.
Why can't I just use Square, Stripe, or Wix Payments for my CBD store?
Most consumer payment platforms either ban hemp outright or charge a steep surcharge. Wix Payments explicitly does not support products containing CBD or THC and cannot process hemp transactions ([Wix Help Center](https://support.wix.com/en/article/wix-payments-restricted-and-prohibited-businesses)). Squarespace's built-in Stripe and PayPal options do not allow CBD sales, forcing merchants to bolt on a separate high-risk account ([Tasker Payment Gateways](https://taskerpaymentgateways.com/cbd-credit-card-processing-squarespace/)). Square will process CBD but charges 3.8% + 30c online and 4.4% + 15c for keyed-in sales ([Square](https://squareup.com/us/en/industry/cbd)), roughly 0.9 to 1.1 points above its standard 2.6% + 15c in-person and 3.3% + 30c online rates ([Square Support](https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/5068-what-are-square-s-fees)).
What does a high-risk merchant account actually cost a hemp business?
High-risk merchant accounts, the category hemp and CBD fall into, carry transaction rates from 3.5% to over 10% plus $0.25, versus 3.49% to 3.95% for low-risk merchants ([Edge](https://www.tryedge.io/blog/high-risk-merchant-fees-2024)). Rolling reserves of 5% to 15% are held for six months to a year ([Edge](https://www.tryedge.io/blog/high-risk-merchant-fees-2024)). On top of that sit annual card-network registration fees of $950 for Visa and $500 for Mastercard, setup costs up to $2,000, monthly fees of $10 to $50, and chargeback fees of $10 to $100 per dispute ([Edge](https://www.tryedge.io/blog/high-risk-merchant-fees-2024)). Throughput's job is to get this stack underwritten correctly the first time so the account survives.
What systems and subscriptions does Throughput replace?
Throughput consolidates the separate tools a regulated-retail shop usually pays for individually: review and messaging platforms like Podium, which starts at $399/month for its Core plan and commonly reaches $500 to $800/month after add-ons ([RepliFast](https://www.replifast.com/blog/podium-pricing-2026)), or Birdeye at $299/month per location ([Emitrr](https://emitrr.com/blog/birdeye-pricing/)). It also covers booking software starting near $20/month ([Capterra](https://www.capterra.com/p/191978/Acuity-Scheduling/pricing/)), email marketing at roughly $13 to $20/month ([Mailchimp](https://mailchimp.com/pricing/marketing/)), and POS reporting that runs under $100/month basic to over $200/month comprehensive ([Hana Retail](https://www.hanaretail.com/blog/pos-system-cost)). You own the result instead of renting each piece.
Why do mainstream review and SMS tools fail hemp businesses specifically?
The carriers, not state law, govern text deliverability, and they block cannabis content. Birdeye's own help center confirms cannabis and CBD businesses cannot send SMS through its platform because carriers banned cannabis-related keywords, so it routes them to email-only webchat instead ([Birdeye Help Center](https://support.birdeye.com/en/articles/12653074-updated-sms-guidelines-for-cannabis-companies)). Twilio rejects A2P 10DLC campaigns with cannabis or CBD content under error 30940 and marks them ineligible for resubmission ([Twilio](https://www.twilio.com/docs/api/errors/30940)). Throughput builds owned channels designed around these rules rather than against them.
How does Throughput's pricing model work?
There are three ways to acquire a system: own it outright as a one-time build you keep and control, have Throughput host it in a sealed per-client container, or have it run done-for-you as a managed service. The own model means no monthly platform rent on the core software. We price per system or as a bundled package, and the choice of hosting depends on your risk profile: high-risk clients like dispensaries and hemp shops build on their own cloud account so the regulatory exposure stays with them, while clients who prefer it managed use Throughput's dedicated hosting.
Who owns my data and customer lists?
You do. Every Throughput project lives in its own isolated folder with its own copy of the code, and your customer data, lists, and content remain yours. For high-risk and HIPAA-adjacent clients we build only systems that never touch protected patient data, working with anonymized IDs and a compliant vendor as the data vault. Payment data always routes directly from your customer to the processor, never through our servers.
Is Throughput compliant for regulated and high-risk retail?
Compliance is built into the architecture, not added afterward. A card-network charge can only carry a SKU flagged as federally legal hemp; anything plant-touching goes to bank rails, so the payment bright line is enforced in code. We do not build cashless-ATM flows, we do not miscode marijuana as hemp, and for healthcare-adjacent clients we build only systems that avoid patient data entirely. Each client is sealed in its own container so one business's setup never affects another's.
Can you run paid ads for my hemp or CBD business?
Paid social and search are heavily restricted, and Throughput sets honest expectations rather than promising ads that will get banned. Meta prohibits all THC ads and gates CBD ads behind written authorization plus LegitScript certification ([Meta Transparency Center](https://transparency.meta.com/policies/ad-standards/restricted-goods-services/drugs-pharmaceuticals/)), Google bans ingestible CBD and limits topical hemp ads to California, Colorado, and Puerto Rico ([Google Ads Policy](https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/6014299?hl=en)), and TikTok disallows ingestible hemp through self-serve ([TikTok](https://ads.tiktok.com/help/article/tiktok-ads-policy-healthcare-pharmaceuticals)). Because of these limits, we focus your growth on owned channels you control, like SMS, email, loyalty, and reviews.
Why should I focus on owned channels instead of advertising?
Owned channels are the only growth levers a regulated shop fully controls, and they directly drive revenue. A one-star increase in a restaurant's Yelp rating raises revenue 5 to 9 percent for independent businesses ([Harvard Business School](https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=41233)), and increasing customer retention by 5 percent increases profits by 25 to 95 percent ([Harvard Business Review](https://hbr.org/2014/10/the-value-of-keeping-the-right-customers)). Acquiring a new customer costs five to 25 times more than keeping an existing one ([Harvard Business Review](https://hbr.org/2014/10/the-value-of-keeping-the-right-customers)), so a loyalty and reputation engine you own pays back faster than ads you can barely place.
How much does a missed call or slow lead response actually cost me?
A lot more than most owners realize. For a service business each missed call is worth an estimated $100 to $200, with a typical business losing about $75,000 a year to missed calls ([SchedulingKit](https://schedulingkit.com/statistics/missed-call-statistics)), and 85 percent of callers whose first call goes unanswered never call back ([SchedulingKit](https://schedulingkit.com/statistics/missed-call-statistics)). Speed matters just as much online: calling a web lead within 5 minutes instead of 30 makes you 100 times more likely to reach that lead ([Casey Response](https://caseyresponse.com/blog/lead-response-time-statistics)). 78 percent of customers buy from the first business that responds ([Casey Response](https://caseyresponse.com/blog/lead-response-time-statistics)). Throughput's AI lead-response system answers instantly so those leads convert instead of leaking.
Do online reviews really change my revenue?
Yes, and the data is consistent across studies. In an analysis of more than 200,000 U.S. small businesses, those with above-average review counts earned 82 percent more annual revenue, and businesses that respond to reviews average 35 percent more revenue ([Search Engine Land](https://searchengineland.com/review-counts-matter-more-to-local-business-revenue-than-star-ratings-according-to-study-320271)). Rating is a hard filter too: 68 percent of consumers will only use a business with four or more stars, and 71 percent would not consider one rated below three ([BrightLocal 2026](https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/), [BrightLocal 2024](https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey-2024/)). Since 97 percent of consumers read local reviews ([BrightLocal](https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/)), a system that earns and manages them is a direct revenue lever.
What does onboarding with Throughput look like?
Onboarding starts by mapping your current tools and payment setup, then building your systems in an isolated environment so nothing goes live until it is tested clean. Because each project gets its own folder and code copy, your build never shares state with another client. The aim is to give back the time owners lose to admin: entrepreneurs spend an average of 36 percent of their work week, about 16 hours, on tasks like invoicing, scheduling, and data entry ([Time etc](https://www.timeetc.com/resources/how-to-achieve-more/the-big-price-of-small-tasks-how-entrepreneurs-may-be-unwittingly-keeping-their-businesses-small/)).
Is there a live demo I can try before committing?
Yes. Throughput runs live demo environments on its own subdomains so you can see the systems working with real flows before any agreement, rather than judging from screenshots or a sales call. You can test how lead-response, reviews, and owned-channel messaging behave for a shop like yours, then decide whether to own, host, or run it done-for-you. Nothing about the demo touches your live data or payment accounts.
Why is Throughput built for the natural-medicine and regulated-retail niche?
Because the niche is large, growing, and underserved by mainstream software vendors who keep banning it. The global CBD market is forecast to reach $22.05 billion by 2030 at a 15.8 percent CAGR, with North America holding 86.7 percent of the 2024 share ([Grand View Research](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cannabidiol-market-to-hit-22-05-billion-by-2030-at-cagr-15-8---grand-view-research-inc-302453695.html)). Texas alone has more than 8,500 hemp businesses and 53,300 hemp-industry jobs ([Whitney Economics](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/03/25/3048507/0/en/New-Economic-Report-on-Texas-Hemp-Market-Finds-Rising-Wages-and-Job-Growth-Amid-Retail-Expansion.html)), and kava bars have grown from a single U.S. location in 2002 to over 300 today ([WUFT](https://www.wuft.org/healthscience/2025-10-24/i-started-drinking-less-and-less-kava-grows-in-popularity-across-florida-as-alcohol-alternative)).
What happens to my payment processing if my current provider terminates my account?
Termination is a known failure mode in this industry, and Throughput plans for it. Clover devices are underwritten by Fiserv and locked to the original processing relationship, so when a smoke-shop or CBD account is terminated, the proprietary hardware cannot be reassigned to a new sponsor bank and the merchant must buy new equipment ([AllayPay](https://allaypay.com/blog/processing/learn-why-clover-shuts-down-smoke-shop-accounts-and-how-to-get-reboarded-through-the-right-sponsor-bank-with-long-term-processing-stability/)). We build on processors and rails chosen for the regulated category, with hardware and rails that can be reboarded through an approved high-risk channel rather than stranding you.
Can Throughput send marketing texts to my customers legally?
Throughput builds SMS around carrier reality, because carrier policy, not state law, decides whether a text is delivered. No major U.S. carrier unambiguously allows explicit SMS sales promotion of hemp or CBD in 2025, and suspect campaigns are throttled or blocked before delivery ([CannabisRegulations.ai](https://www.cannabisregulations.ai/cannabis-and-hemp-regulations-compliance-ai-blog/10dlc-cannabis-hemp-texting-2025)), with SHAFT and cannabis SMS fines starting at $1,000 to $2,000 per message and repeat violations often exceeding $10,000 ([CannabisRegulations.ai](https://www.cannabisregulations.ai/cannabis-and-hemp-regulations-compliance-ai-blog/10dlc-cannabis-hemp-texting-2025)). We structure owned messaging and content to stay deliverable rather than risking your number being banned from all SMS channels.
Why does answering the phone matter so much for a retail shop?
Because a large share of calls go unanswered and most of those callers are gone for good. A 2024 study of 85 businesses across 58 industries found only 37.8 percent of incoming calls were answered by a live person, while 24.3 percent got no answer and no voicemail at all ([Aira](https://www.getaira.io/blog/missed-business-calls-statistics)), and roughly 80 percent of callers who reach voicemail hang up without leaving a message ([Aira](https://www.getaira.io/blog/missed-business-calls-statistics)). Throughput's AI front desk answers and captures those callers automatically, turning calls that would otherwise become a competitor's sale into booked business.