Reasons to Consider a Dispensary Mobile App

As demand and competition increase in the cannabis industry, it’s vital to choose the right technology to help your dispensary operation excel in the most convenient and cost-effective way.

One such technology is a dispensary mobile app.

A mobile app can help offer unique customer experiences, centralize your operations, and close the gap between marketing, retention, and sales.

In this post, we'll break down the data to show you how having a dispensary mobile app with a real-time connection to your POS can scale up your business.

Reason #1: Marketing Opportunity

Keeping your customers engaged has always been a crucial point for any successful business. Now more than ever, you want to make sure to stay in your customers' mind (and fingertips) even when you can’t get your products physically in front of them.

Having a website with your dispensary menu and online ordering is a great start, but a mobile app can reach a whole new group of customers.

According to Statista, up to 85% of customers spend more time in retail mobile apps than on websites. That being the case, you might want to consider adding a uniquely branded mobile app to your dispensary to fulfill the needs of customers who prefer this channel.

Apps bring the best ecommerce user experience for customers when fully integrated with your dispensary POS. With a mobile app connected to your POS, you can create an omni-channel strategy, meaning your customers get a fully-integrated shopping experience resulting in larger shopping carts, quicker checkouts, and increased loyalty.

Why a dispensary mobile app?

One of the most important mobile app features to enhance your marketing strategy performance is push notifications and location-based alerts.

Push notifications and location alerts allow retailers to send geo-targeted campaigns, making it easier to reach customers nearby via their Android or iPhone (iOS) devices.

An app also allows you to carry out customer segmentations, which are ideal when you want to target a specific type of customer, like recreational or medical marijuana users. Segment-based campaigns allow you to capture customers’ interests through limited-time pricing or deals, and seasonal and exclusive mobile app offers.

Push notifications, which are different from SMS or text, are also a popular way to reach your current patients or customers to keep them up-to-date with your latest deals, promotions, and new products.

According to Mobile App Daily, ecommerce apps with push notification functionality have the highest engagement among different industries. When comparing STRAIN data with world stats, we see that dispensary cannabis app rates are even higher.

75% of customers that install dispensary mobile apps opt-in to receive push notifications. The data also shows that 65% of marijuana dispensary customers engage with push notifications within two hours with an open rate of 20-25%.

Consumers are also comfortable using apps, even those specific to one business. Once you inform them that you have an app, all they have to do is find it in the Apple App Store or Google Play store and use it whenever shopping at your dispensary.

You can spin up a dispensary mobile app quickly with a white-labeled solution like STRAIN. It comes with built-in features that can help you easily send SMS/MMS campaigns, deploy Bluetooth beacon proximity alerts, and also offers Smart TV menu apps.

Reason #2: Customer Retention

After working so hard to get new customers, you want to make sure you keep them. Customer loyalty and retention is something you can’t buy, but can earn.

After all, if you want to increase sales and gain repeat customers, why not reward them for it with a loyalty program?

Loyalty programs work because of what’s known as the “Pareto Principle” — the 80/20 rule. This rule states that 20% of your customers account for 80% of revenue. Acquiring a new customer can cost as much as 7x more than retaining an existing one.

Providing customers with their loyalty points balance is a rewarding and fun way to keep them engaged. Besides rewarding your customers with a cannabis loyalty program, you can offer them exclusive in-app offers and promotions to increase your cart size and conversion rate.

Reason #3: More Sales

Now, for the million-dollar question. Will having your own dispensary mobile app increase sales? And how good will the return on investment be?

A STRAIN mobile app and platform can increase sales significantly and give you an upper hand when it comes to the competition. It’s a distinctive all-in-one solution that brings your products to your clients in real time. And since it’s white-labeled, you don’t have to undertake your own app development project, which is time-consuming and expensive.

Mobile app vs. online ordering platform

If you already have an online menu and ordering option, do you also need a dispensary mobile app?

Three months after launching an app, STRAIN data shows that 75% of dispensary customers prefer ordering through a mobile app vs. only 25% who use online ordering.

Additionally, with your own mobile app, you can generate additional revenue. By monetizing your app and letting brands advertise their products, you can create additional income. This allows your app to pay for itself, making it more financially sustainable.

A STRAIN app can also help you upsell and cross-sell cannabis products, facilitate marijuana delivery services, and offer tablet or kiosk ordering in-store.

How to make the most of your dispensary mobile app

Investing on an app is a big move, but it’s a worthwhile choice. An app brings your marketing campaigns, customers, and sales closer than ever, benefitting both your business and your customers.

Here are a few dispensary app best practices to help you take advantage of every opportunity and get your money’s worth:

• Monetize your app. Allow sponsors and partners to advertise their brand, latest products, events, and patient drives for an extra revenue stream.

• Keep your app up-to-date with your latest and/or exclusive in-app offers and the hottest cannabis content and news.

• Reward your users with loyalty programs and unique offers. Make it fun!

• Use STRAIN’s customer-exclusive marketing kit to advertise your app through social media, blogs, and industry magazines.

• Promote the app on your Weedmaps or Leafly pages to create FOMO through exclusivity.

• Carry out successful push notifications campaigns and location-based alerts with a strong call-to-action. Create urgency.

• Upsell and cross-sell your products to potentially interested customers based on previous purchases or items related to what they have in their cart.

Ready to get started?

If you want to add a mobile app to increase online orders at your cannabis dispensary, request a demo with STRAIN.

If you’re interested in a dispensary point of sale to help you maximize efficiency and compliance, request a demo with Flowhub.