The cannabis retail domain is among the booming industries after the legalization of cannabis in several states. Another surge came after the pandemic, with a growing number of consumers making a beeline for this wellness aid. While everything sounds great for retailers, the competition makes it hard to sustain and thrive. As a dispensary owner, you need to think outside the box to get the traffic churning and retain it for the long haul.
It takes far more than serving the best variety and quality of products to buyers. You require an omnichannel sales strategy and excellent customer experience to gain a competitive advantage and win the retail game. Add a few more secret ingredients to the mix, and you have a perfect recipe for success. Let us share a few tried and tasted success tips cannabis retailers can rely on.
Introduce New Products Regularly
The legal status of cannabis means more customers and more products. Moreover, these buyers expect retailers to have all the latest offerings on their store shelves. You cannot overlook the surging demand for cannabis edibles, concentrates, and topical products. Sticking with the basics can only keep your store afloat, but regularly updating your menus is the key to success. You will have more customers exploring your catalog in search of healthier alternatives to smoking and vaping. Besides serving new offerings, ensure your budtenders are qualified enough to assess the unique needs of buyers and provide recommendations accordingly.
Cut Back On Operational Costs
Success as a cannabis retailer is also about cutting down your operational costs because they can easily burn a hole in your profits. You cannot do much to reduce standing costs like rent and utilities. But several others are easy to control, provided you are savvy enough. You only need to track and review processes and adjust them to lower the costs of running your dispensary. For example, you can use a POS system to track sales information and identify the slow-moving inventory. Consider avoiding such products in your stock in the future to invest in a better product mix that yields higher margins. The idea is to spend wisely rather than control costs altogether.
Strengthen Your Online Presence
After the e-commerce boom amid the pandemic, it is impossible to imagine running a dispensary without an online presence. You can legally promote your business on the internet through your website and social media platforms. Ensure to use the opportunity to your advantage because it enables you to promote and sell without spending a fortune. In fact, you can invest in a robust digital marketing plan to build a sustainable presence for your brand. It also empowers you with a broader reach and higher sales, so go the extra mile to strengthen your online presence. Having a user-friendly website gives you a good start. Invest in SEO, share informative content on your blog, double up on social media marketing, and send email newsletters to hook the audience.
Offer Delivery And Pickup Options
Although the virus is under control, you cannot expect customers to come to your dispensary in large numbers. They still look for convenient and safe buying options, and delivery and pickup cover both fronts. It is easy to add the service to your portfolio with more states providing cannabis delivery licenses. Likewise, curbside pickups are ideal for retailers and customers alike. You can rely on POS solutions like posabit to facilitate payments for these options, so implementing them is a breeze. Your customers will appreciate such flexibility, and you can actually cut down your operational costs by having them in place. It lets you run with a smaller staff-in store and add inventory on the fly. Just ensure to comply with the local regulations to be on the right side of the law.
Address The Risk Of Inventory Stockout
Customer experience is the mainstay of success in the retail segment. Telling them that you are short of a product does more than hurt your sales. It can translate into losing a customer for good. The only way to prevent this situation is by addressing the risk of inventory stockout. Luckily, a POS solution can help you track looming inventory stockouts and replenish the stocks before you fall short. It enables you to review sales data and determine when a product could get low well in advance. There’s hardly a chance of losing sales or missing out on opportunities only because you are out of stock.
Focus On Increasing The Average Basket Size
Increasing the average basket size per customer brings immense advantages to a cannabis business. You can do it by implementing some actionable measures to entice buyers to pick more products. For example, add accessories like pipes, bongs, and vaporizers to explore upselling benefits. Offer cannabis education on your website and through seasoned budtenders in-store. The extra effort consolidates long-term customer relationships besides growing their basket size and overall profits of your business. Special deals, offers, and product bundles also enhance sales and boost loyalty. Consider using POS data to spot trends and preferences and personalize offerings and recommendations accordingly.
Increase Buying Frequency
Besides boosting the average basket value, you can do your bit to increase buying frequency for your customers. Returning customers are the cornerstones of retail success, so find ways to bring them back for repeat shopping. You can run loyalty programs to incentivize consumers. Referral bonuses are a great way to make the current buyers stick and inspire them to bring new ones with word-of-mouth recommendations. Most importantly, provide excellence in customer experiences and product quality to bring them back time and again.
Cannabis retail selling is highly profitable, provided you find ways to stand apart in the competitive market. Everything boils down to the way you treat your customers. Pamper them with quality products, endless options, and an unmatched customer experience. These factors are enough to win the retail game and stay ahead of the competition. Add services like online selling, doorstep delivery, curbside pickup, and cannabis education to achieve a winning mix.
