It's safe to say this year has been one of the cannabis industry's most transformative periods to date. As numerous states begin to legalize marijuana, the demand for such products has reached an all-time high—particularly by those looking to purchase it online. In fact, according to a study by Clearsale, retailers have seen online revenue increases of up to 130% since January 2020, and research suggests this trend is here to stay.
With eCommerce comes endless advantages for both your business and your customers. Here are a few ways that Dispense can help:
- ‍Reach more customers: Powering online sales with Dispense means your website will convert into a hub for current customers to buy from you while simultaneously attracting new customers who might not have shopped with you otherwise. This reach is far greater and impacts your bottom line much more than solely a traditional brick-and-mortar store.
‍‍ - Simplify the online ordering process: Through our SEO menu on your websitecustomers can easily search, sort, filter, and find their desired cannabis products. Shopping time is reduced significantly because they are able to narrow down their options based on their preferred brand, weight, strain type, subcategory, or discount. Once selected, they can view item descriptions, effects, and verified customer reviews.
On your end, the look and feel of this menu is fully customizable. For instance, if you have a promotion, sale, or special, it can be highlighted among the carousel of banners at the top of your widget. You can create new product categories and change the order in which they appear, too.
‍ - ‍Offer seamless checkouts: In just a few clicks, customers can enter their contact information, select up a pickup (in store or curbside) or delivery time, and register for your loyalty program—without ever leaving the page. Because Dispense offers a guest checkout option, they will never be required to log in or sign up in order to make a purchase.
‍ - ‍Build brand loyalty: Dispense's integration with Springbig gives your customers a seamless, uninterrupted way to earn loyalty points and redeem rewards during checkout. This effectively boosts basket sizes, increases retention, builds brand affinity, and helps you form lasting relationships.
‍ - ‍Provide Convenient Buying Experiences: By enabling customers to make a purchase online, they can order anytime, anywhere—24/7, 365—then select up a pickup slot that fits their schedule. Even more, recognizing that most buying happens on the phone, Dispense's mobile-optimized strategy encourages conversions by reducing friction.
From there, seemingly everything is systematic—from the second your customer receives their order confirmation via email and text, containing a QR code, to the moment that code is scanned and their items are retrieved at pickup. Once they're at your store, they'll get in and out quickly, avoiding long lines and wait times in the process. If the buyer prefers a contactless pickup (particularly during the COVID-1 pandemic), they can select curbside pickup, provide their car's description, remain inside, and have their order brought directly to them. Ultimately, it's these delightful shopping experiences that keep them coming back for more.
‍ - ‍Streamline customer interactions: As part of the Customer Chat feature, Dispense enables you to efficiently exchange messages with your customers. Should they need assistance, have a question, or experience any issues, they can reach out through live SMS text or using the chat box on your website's widget. All inbound messages will immediately appear on the Dispense dashboard for you and/or anyone on your team to answer, then close out upon completion. A history of these conversations will remain in Dispense, tied to each individual customer, making it easy to refer back to later on if need be.
‍ - ‍Build out your CRM: The collection of customer data on every online purchase is among the most valuable aspects of Dispense, as details from every stage of the buying cycle are automatically synced back into Dispense. By having this information readily available, you can use it to build, develop, and nurture strong relationships with your customers, resulting in brand loyalty and advocacy.
‍ - ‍Own customer data: Because Dispense is not a marketplace, your data is 100% owned by you. We will never market to or share your customers' information.
‍ - ‍Scale your operations: Run the back of the house through one dashboard: Sync your POS product and menu data, manage staff, and manage your orders and flow of customers in a way that makes most sense to you. This includes customizing your menu, time slots, order settings, checkout settings, order queues, printers, and more.
‍‍ - Track performance & analytics: Dispense provides comprehensive analytics that can be used to determine what's working (or what isn't) at your store. Specifically, you'll see your total orders, customers, sales, and loyalty opt-ins; new customers, repeat customers, no-shows; and more either daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, or over your own custom range of dates.
With so many benefits, it's no wonder why eCommerce has become a standard for dispensaries across the U.S. Set up a free discovery call or demo of Dispense on our website, and we'll share more about how your dispensary can streamline operations while giving your customers the most dynamic online cannabis retail experience possible.
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What our customers are saying:
"One of the greatest powers of Dispense is that it’s flexible to a myriad of setups that we have within our stores, and that it can be used in so many ways to support the operations and physicality of the space. Not all dispensaries are the same so that flexibility is critical." -Don S., VP of Retail
"It has been a true pleasure having [Dispense] as our new eCommerce and order management software. Southern Illinois would not have broken the records we did this year without it!” -Kathleen O., Regional Director, Illinois
"Dispense provides much better and immediate support than our previous provider! On top of that, they are willing to make custom changes to their software that better our business as a whole." -Blayne F., Regional IT Support Analyst
