Top 5 Tips to Make Your Cannabis Dispensary Stand Out

As we continue to see cannabis destigmatized across the United States, the cannabis dispensary scene will become bigger and more competitive. In order to compete with other businesses, dispensaries can learn how to develop a recognized brand while maintaining loyalty to their customer base. It will be those retailers that can provide the best service and distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack that are in it for the long haul. Here are some tips to help your dispensary thrive.

1. Understand Your Audience

• The first thing any cannabis dispensary should understand is that you can’t be everything to everyone. The closer you get to your ideal customer, the more effective your marketing strategy. This does not mean you have to pin yourself down creatively. Try splitting a larger market into many smaller markets, you can better manage your strategies and campaigns.

2. Develop Brand Backstory

• Quickly rushing to open can lead many dispensaries to selling themselves short when it comes to their branding. It sounds over-played, but your identity is valuable, especially in the digital space. The power of a sharp logo can stick in your customers minds. However, branding will have to follow marketing regulations and with cannabis still federally illegal, this can prove difficult along the way. Perseverance will be key.

3. Maximize Available Channels

• Engaging with your customers means more than just in-store promotions. It means following up with them and providing constant value. You should be using every available channel and an email newsletter is useful for this. Direct traffic through newsletters offer the chance for potential customers to spend more time on your site, learning about promotions, products and events you may be hosting. Utilizing online menu directories like Weedmaps, Leafly, and Potify will also send customers your way.

4. Design for Best Possible Customer Experience

• Just as you consider the long-term strategy for your cannabis dispensary, the internal experience should benefit the customer. This can happen in a variety of ways, including adapting to new tech like touch screens to expedite sales. Dispensaries can also benefit their community by hosting experiential or educational events. At the end of the day there are many ways to set your dispensary apart. The extra effort will lead to a better pay out.   

5. Simplify Dispensary Inventory

• Maintaining inventory is critical to any retail business. For a heavily regulated industry like cannabis, compliance dictates how you conduct in-store inventory counts and report your discrepancies. Investing in solid software can make this requirement easier to manage on a daily basis. Unlike other retail industries, cannabis inventory is set to make sure products don’t find themselves in the thriving illicit market. Investing in a good POS software program is not just a matter or sales, but public safety as well.

Contributed by Richard Sanchez