Boost Your Dispensary Retail Business: 4 Effective Strategies
Dispensaries are facing intense competition in the cannabis industry, with more and more businesses entering the market each year. As a result, dispensaries are finding it difficult to stand out among their competitors and attract customers.
This increased competition has led to a downward trend in pricing, which negatively impacts dispensaries' earnings and bottom lines. Dispensaries are also struggling with slower returns on investments (ROIs) due to increased expenses and lower profit margins.
In addition to these challenges, there are hundreds and thousands of cannabis websites where consumers can purchase products, making it even harder for dispensaries to differentiate themselves and attract new customers. However, by implementing innovative strategies, dispensaries can overcome these challenges and find success in the competitive market.
Ways To Grow Your Dispensary Business
1. Go Beyond Your E-Commerce Website
The world of cannabis continues to evolve, and with it comes the need for dispensaries to constantly adapt and innovate. One powerful tool in a dispensary's arsenal is a custom dispensary mobile app. The dispensary mobile app can be designed to provide a seamless shopping experience for customers, with features such as order tracking for store pick-up and rewards.
Dispensaries can also use their mobile app as a platform for brand building by pulling content from their website or blog and integrating it into the app. This approach can help dispensaries stand out in a crowded market and build a loyal customer base through on-demand value. Thus, consider dispensary mobile app development that has the potential to provide functionality and content, versus what the solutions in the market can offer.
Explore Digital Awesome's cannabis mobile app solution, DispensaryMate. DispensaryMate provides a captivating user experience by blending integrated cannabis shopping, rewards, referrals, and other features into a single branded platform.
Each mobile app is customized and has a branded interface, an aligned UX that matches the business strategy, blog synchronization, strategic product categorization and filters, smart selling tools to boost order totals, analytics, app marketing assistance, compliance, and continuous app maintenance with free updates.
All of these features and more are available for as low as $470 per dispensary, set up on the app.
Key Benefits of Mobile Dispensary Apps
a) Convenience for Customers
One of the most significant benefits of these apps is the convenience they offer customers, who can easily access a wide variety of products and services from their mobile devices. This includes the ability to place orders from multiple locations all from one app.
Moreover, customers can enjoy real-time inventory tracking to ensure their desired items are available. Dispensary apps like DispensaryMate now combine shopping with rewards by integrating with existing providers such as SpringBig and other leading providers, allowing customers to earn & redeem rewards for their continued patronage without the hassle.
b) Increased Revenue
Mobile dispensary apps have proven to be game changers for the cannabis industry, providing numerous benefits to businesses looking to boost their revenue. With a higher order volume thanks to an app's streamlined ordering process and intuitive selling tools, businesses can expect to improve their average cart sale. Additionally, mobile dispensary apps enable companies to market their products in exciting new ways, capturing the attention of potential customers through banner ads, and custom categories and encouraging upselling and cross-selling features upon checkout.
c) Competitive Advantage
As the cannabis industry grows, dispensaries seek ways to stand out in a crowded market. One way to gain a competitive advantage is by investing in a mobile dispensary app like DispensaryMate.
Moreover, a mobile app allows dispensaries to stay updated with industry trends and directly offer personalized deals, discounts, and recommendations to their customers. By using the valuable data and insights collected through the app, dispensaries can improve their business operations and marketing strategies to serve their customers better.
2. Use AI To Your Advantage
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to enhance the dispensary retail business significantly. One unique application of AI is the introduction of Pluggi, a Personal AI Budtender.
Pluggi simplifies dispensary shopping by providing relevant product recommendations generated in seconds. This innovation offers a simple alternative to overwhelming dispensary menus and offers insights and analytics into customer preferences. By utilizing Pluggi, dispensaries can save valuable time on customer service while providing personalized recommendations that enhance customer satisfaction. Plus, existing Pluggi customers can receive a 10% discount on their first mobile dispensary app through Digital Awesome’s DispensaryMate app solution, making it an attractive option for cost-conscious businesses.
3. Leverage New Canna-friendly Advertising Platforms
As the cannabis industry continues to grow, businesses face unique challenges regarding advertising. Restrictions from powerful platforms such as Google and Facebook have created a barrier, making it difficult to reach potential customers. However, there is hope for businesses looking to boost their dispensary retail business.
Twitter has recently updated its policies to allow for the advertising of cannabis and related products. It is important to note that there are still limitations and rules in place that businesses must adhere to. This includes following local laws and regulations, having age-gating, and targeting restrictions.
Apart from Twitter, canna-friendly networks and forums, another great way to advertise is through push notifications or app banners via a dispensary's app. This allows for targeted messaging to existing customers and the ability to provide personalized promotions.
4. Connect & Collaborate
One of the most effective ways to boost your dispensary retail business is by collaborating with other players in the industry or complementary niches. Such collaboration can bring many benefits to your business, including increased exposure, enhanced product offerings, and tremendous overall success.
David Paleschuck, who serves as the CEO of Branding Bud Consulting Group, explains that brand collaborations seek to merge the favorable perceptions and recognition of each brand. The resulting offering is usually novel, distinctive, and possibly more desirable, causing customers to feel the need to purchase the products or services quickly, even at a higher cost.
Successful collaborations aren’t only about co-branding, collaborations should reflect a shared purpose and mission in order to resonate effectively with their intended audiences. Otherwise, it may look forced and won’t really compel their market to take action and buy. A good example of an impactful collaboration is the one of Old Pal & Album.
Old Pal x Album
Image from Field Mag
The brand Old Pal is known for its ability to modernize the traditional Americana stoner culture by integrating music, fashion, and art. Old Pal's collaboration with Album, a surfboard manufacturer, exemplifies the brand's understanding of its audience. Unlike other alternative brands that rely on typical skateboard decals, the boards are tastefully designed, trippy, and unconventional.
Old Pal's co-founder, Jason Osni, said that the brands have completed two board drop collaborations. The designs were inspired by paper cuttings from Old Pal's agency LAND. Celebrated surf photographer Michael Townsend shot the campaign, and since then demand has been high.
Moreover, Osni mentioned that the collaboration was organic and made sense because Old Pal exists in surf and skate culture, even if the brand does not exclusively focus on these areas. According to Osni, collaborations only make sense if there is a high likelihood of customer interest on both sides. In this case, the partnership with Album fulfils that goal.
Elevate Your Dispensary
As the cannabis retail industry expands, dispensaries need to focus on outshining their competitors. To remain relevant and competitive, dispensaries must explore modern technologies, like mobile apps, leverage new advertising platforms, and diversify their products and channels through collaborations. By incorporating these strategies, dispensaries can upgrade the overall customer experience and keep budding on!