What to Look for in a Dispensary Loyalty Program
May 14, 2024
The legal cannabis market is competitive– we all need the best cannabis POS system, the best medical cannabis products, the best cannabis payment processor, the best seed to sale system for compliance. One area that can’t be overlooked for dispensaries is the loyalty program for that dispensary. Retailers outside of cannabis have identified and perfected loyalty programs to the point that now loyalty programs are standard procedure for dispensaries and are expected by cannabis consumers. But how do you evaluate what works best for your store? With so many options in the industry, how do you know what to look for? In the saturated world of cannabis tech, here’s what will help you make the big decisions for your dispensary.
Seamless Integrations
Perhaps the most key component for a successful dispensary loyalty program is ensuring it integrates with your POS software. The biggest challenge is making sure customers receive credit for their purchases, so a seamless plugin to your cannabis POS system is essential. Some cheaper loyalty programs may require manual transaction tracking, which will save you some money on monthly subscriptions but will cost you significantly in labor and in human error. Automatically logging transactions by customer into the POS cloud so users automatically earn points or rewards is crucial.
Adjustable Rewarding
As your business grows, you’ll want to be able to scale everything in your business, including your rewards programs and tiers. One basic format for rewards programs is for money spent to equal a certain percentage of cash back for future purchases. Some dispensaries are seeing success with tiered rewards for products, which, if done correctly, can prove to be easier on margins. Vertically integrated cannabis operations could use their in-house brands and really only account for the cost of production as the reward cost. Being able to smoothly adjust rewards tiers gives your operation room to grow and evolve along with the industry.
Customer Communication Capabilities
Many cannabis dispensaries utilize their loyalty program as an extension of their marketing efforts. An essential for your loyalty program are text and/or email capabilities, preferably both. There must be automatic transactional messaging so that after a transaction occurs, the customer gets a message with an update on their points or progress towards rewards. The more robust rewards programs will also allow for milestone communications, like anniversary or birthday rewards. Some, like Springbig, also have capabilities for regular text messaging to users so you can give your customers a heads-up on sales or events at your location. Streamlining communications and loyalty gives your users a smooth experience with all transactions and touchpoints.
Rewards Reporting
Loyalty programs are more than a touchpoint for marketing- they are a powerful data tool (if used correctly). Dispensary operators can take full advantage of valuable customer loyalty data to drive purchasing and operational decisions. Reports should provide operators insight into reward redemptions, frequency of visits, and which deals motivate people to visit the store. Rewards reporting can also give insights into customer zip codes to help determine which areas could benefit from more marketing efforts.
At the core of making your dispensary stand out is a seamless user experience. For more on what makes for the best cannabis dispensary software, click here:
