Should Your Business Use Cannabis Software?

As the cannabis industry has grown, so has a raft of software targeted towards cannabis businesses. If you operate a smaller dispensary, or if you’re new to the industry, you might be asking yourself whether you should invest some precious cash into new software.

This guide will help you make a decision.

What Can Dispensary Software Do For Your Cannabis Business?

Successful cannabis retailers must wear many hats. They brainstorm ways to increase revenue, maintain loyalty rewards programs, and spread the word about their business. They have to do all of this while trying to keep their customers happy.

It’s no wonder that many cannabis business owners and industry leaders are looking to automate some of these processes. Maybe you’ve been scrambling around for separate software programs to analyze customer data, send text-based ads, and optimize your loyalty program.

But you don’t have to purchase separate software for each task. A good software platform can do all of this and more. It can even streamline your whole sales process so that you save time and increase efficiency.

Features You Should Look For in Cannabis Industry Software

When shopping around for the best dispensary software, make sure that your chosen platform includes the added functionality of integration with your consumer data.

Your goal is to harness the power of data analytics and POS integrations to drive business success for your cannabis dispensary. Here are some important features you should look for in a dispensary software platform.

• Automation. It can be challenging to find the right time to tell customers about an upcoming sale or promotion. Sometimes other tasks get in the way, or you aren’t sure whether a morning or afternoon might be more effective. Automation makes this process intuitive. With this feature, your software will send out your advertising messages at just the right time – and you won’t even have to lift a finger.An effective automated advertising program will analyze a customer’s data and purchase history to send out a personalized campaign. Did you forget a customer’s birthday? Your dispensary software will remember to send out that birthday promotion. Smart marketing equals customer retention and increased cannabis sales.
• Cannabis POS System Integration. An efficient software solution is an ecosystem that incorporates both marketing and sales. While some dispensaries have used on-premise POS systems, more are turning towards cloud-based systems that customers can access with their digital wallets.Customers like the flexibility of being able to place orders from their smartphones. Cannabis retailers benefit from providing a seamless shopping experience that aggregates customer data and uses advanced analytics to support future purchases. Everyone wins.
• Integration With Your Loyalty Rewards and Referral Programs. Dispensary owners can take their business to the next level with a data-driven customer loyalty program. Reward your customers by offering exclusive discounts or cash back points.Loyalty rewards programs are proven to generate repeat business. You can make your program even more effective with automated advertising messages, alerting customers when they are about to reach a new rewards tier. For even more customer reach, easily integrate your loyalty program with your referral program.
• Seamlessness. Visualize a seamless transaction facilitated by your software every step of the way. Here’s how that might look:Utilizing its sophisticated analytics tools, your software sends out an automated advertising message to a repeat customer at just the right moment. The message might contain an exclusive deal using data from the customer’s most recent purchase of cannabis products.The customer clicks on the message and is connected to your dispensary’s mobile app, which is integrated with your dispensary POS system. After a successful purchase, the customer is rewarded with loyalty points. Then, your system sends out a message encouraging the customer to refer a friend or post on social media.
• Customization. The best dispensary software can be customized to fulfill the needs of your business. Some companies can even work with you to create your own mobile app, complete with your logo and brand identity. Customers can be surrounded by your shopping experience both in and out of the cannabis retail store. These customizations can extend to your loyalty rewards program and advertising messages.

How Important is A Dispensary Loyalty Program For Cannabis Companies?

You are probably convinced of the importance of maintaining accurate data and an organized contact list of customers. And by now, you realize the importance of integrating your point-of-sale software with your branded mobile app.

But maybe you’re still on the fence about operating a dispensary loyalty program.

Perhaps you’re concerned about your profit margin, and you worry about cutting into it with too many discounts. Or maybe you think that operating a loyalty program will be cumbersome, detracting from your retail experience. You might picture your dispensary employees struggling with new manual entry options.

Your loyalty rewards program need not cut into your sales. In fact, when administered effectively, it can even help you make more sales. A recent McKinsey report found that the top loyalty programs boosted revenue by 15% to 25%.

Program participants were incentivized to make larger or more frequent purchases. The report found that not only did loyalty programs generate new business, but appealed to new customers wanting to try out a new store or brand. The report also found that when businesses enabled a cash-plus-points option, loyalty program participation increased by 20% to 25%.

What does this mean for cannabis dispensaries? Using marketing software solutions that are integrated with your point-of-sale software can make the loyalty rewards process seamless and intuitive. Your system will keep track of all customer point balances and even send out automated reminders when it’s time to take advantage of a special promotion.

As the market leader in cannabis industry software technology, springbig includes all of the above capabilities: automation, seamless integration with your dispensary POS systems, loyalty and rewards programs, and customization.

Connect with us today, and let us optimize your retail operations with our advanced technology. Benefit from increased sales and an improved customer experience.