Dispense is teaming up with Happy Cabbage Analytics to share new data on website ordering behavior. Our findings show that customers purchasing on a dispensary's website tend to make higher and more frequent orders versus other digital channels. It's time to make your website do the selling for you. 

Dispensary Website 

You’ve probably heard every spiel about why websites matters in marketing; it’s the face of your brand. But data shows that your website is more than a pretty face, but actually where business is done. Your website could be where cannabis consumers place their highest orders. Is your dispensary leveraging it?

What’s the average order size in-store, on Weedmaps, and on dispensary websites?

Our Takeaway

The difference in order size between in-store and other channels is likely driven by the fact the other channels include more delivery orders.

But let's take a closer look, specifically at the difference between the Website and Weedmaps figures. Customers that visit dispensary websites spend more on delivery orders with fewer discounts (as opposed to Weedmaps). That means if you can drive more high-quality customer traffic to your site, you could see higher sales from that channel versus Weedmaps or an aggregated marketplace. 

The key phrase here is high-quality customer traffic. That’s what differentiates your website from Weedmaps or another marketplace (ie. Leafly, Eaze). You can power your website with product-led SEO, programmatic ads, or SMS marketing to bring better customers to your dispensary menu, versus Weedmaps targeting that captures cannabis consumers who may not be the best fit. 

How Often Do Cannabis Customers Order in-store, from Weedmaps, or via dispensary websites?

Our Takeaway

We’ve covered customer acquisition, but did you know your website can influence customer retention, too? The data shows dispensaries can retain more customers via a website than in-store or via Weedmaps. When you bring high-quality customers to your website, you should see more re-conversions and frequent orders. 

That means that your website is your best channel for customer retention, too. 

Let's look at acquisition and retention together. If you're investing heavily in acquisition with geo-advertising via Weedmaps, you could acquire more customers that spend less at your dispensary and aren't as keen to order again. That ends up being more costly for you in the long run. The same is true for using menus with aggregated marketplaces. Although there’s no upfront acquisition cost, you pay for it downstream in a few ways: 1. fewer high-quality customers that will re-order, and 2. limitations by your menu's iFrame to build product-led SEO to acquire more shoppers.

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Let's put that data to work. Here's how to make your dispensary website a better marketing and sales engine based on our findings...

1. Switch to a non-iFrame menu 

Right off the bat: you can drive more high-quality customer traffic to your website by using a non-iFrame menu solution. These "native" menus will help you optimize all of your individual products for Google (SEO), which is crucial for helping customers looking specific brands nearby find your dispensary first. Dispensary SEO is no joke, and should be a top priority when building a website for your dispensary. Cannabis software like Dispense is perfect for this task, with a built-in SEO menu that will help your dispensary rank higher on Google automatically -- no coding required.

2. Run targeted marketing 

Now that you've SEO-optimized your website, what's next? We recommend using a dispensary SMS marketing platform like Polaris by Happy Cabbage to drive repeat orders. With a solid dispensary text marketing platform, you can send messages to customers when they’re most likely to place another online order -- further optimizing your sales funnel. Dispensary text messages provide a solid direct-to-consumer addition to your marketing and sales strategy.

3. Focus on product-led SEO 

Once you have a native, non-iFrame menu, it's time to start optimizing your products. Focus on popular branded terms in your area like “Jeeter near me” or “Wana near me" to capture customers looking for brands they love in your area. These terms signal high buyer intent which is why it's a smart move to rank high on Google for them. Dispense's customer success team can help you set up your SEO menu for success.

4. Update your UX flows 

Your website should be, above all, easy to use. Reduce friction across your site so it's simpler for customers to complete orders. This could look like removing excessive form fields and pop-ups, and improving page load times so customers can easily purchase from you at checkout. 

5. Invest in delivery

Integrating with cannabis delivery software partners like Onfleet should be a no-brainer for your sales strategy. Data shows that delivery offerings lead to higher rates of spending and customer loyalty -- a trend sure to surpass the pandemic. Convenience is king, and your dispensary should offer it wherever you can.

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*The data sample covers 5 retailers across 11 facilities in California: 35,000 customers and 56,000 orders, including 3,000 customers acquired through Weedmaps.