There is one universal principle in business that all successful business owners understand: repeat customers are essential. But there’s a key foe in the way of customer loyalty. Competition. Your competitor will always be working to poach your current and potential customers.
The good news is that there are solutions to this problem, and while “just be better” may be a good summary, there are some concrete, tried-and-true ways to outdo your competitors and keep customers coming to you.
One often overlooked advantage is targeted POS software. Generic POS software is okay, but not ideal, especially in the cannabis industry.
Alright, before jumping too far ahead, what exactly is POS software, and how can it help maintain customers?
POS stands for Point of Sale, and a POS system is generally designed to manage transactions and provide useful features like inventory management and marketing tools.
A good POS system will have analytics and loyalty programs as well.
Loyalty programs are popular because… they work. Having the ability to set up and use loyalty programs through your POS software is a must. More on that later.
Analytics allow you to measure performance, adjust, test, and create better loyalty programs and offers, along with implementing a smarter inventory that caters to the customer based on cold, hard facts rather than whimsy or gut feeling.
That said, a generic POS system isn’t well-suited for the cannabis industry. Besides the fact that a cannabis-specific POS system can help ensure compliance with the myriad of regulations, it can also drive more sales.
First, when it comes to loyalty programs, cannabis dispensary software can offer customizable loyalty programs that take into account local regulations.
This is particularly helpful considering that payment options are limited, to say the least, when it comes to sales of marijuana. Redeeming loyalty points is a great way to boost the repeat customer rate and provide another way to pay using redeemed loyalty points.
On that note, these systems can also allow for debit card payments, which are proven to boost cart size over cash payments—and while credit cards are generally not allowed in this industry, debit cards are in some cases.
Dynamic discounts based on the customer, product, time (happy hour), and more can also be utilized to keep customers happy and interested. This is bigger than you might think. Wouldn’t you rather buy from a store that you know has discounts during happy hour or within the product category that you want?
Plus, having access to analytics helps you get rid of underperforming marketing efforts, create new ones, and refine them. There’s a lot of creativity to marketing, but there’s also a science, and the latter can only be utilized with analytics.
Lastly, marijuana dispensary software can also offer online orders. We live in a digitized world, and many, especially the younger generation, gravitate toward online shopping. Why miss out on that?
Cannabis-specific POS software is helpful for compliance alone. But where it shines is its ability to convert new customers and keep attracting existing ones.
Using software packed with cannabis-focused marketing features and quality of life upgrades for customers (like cashless payments) is a solid way to outperform other dispensaries and maintain (and grow) a stream of customers.
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