Sell More in Your Dispensary With These 3 Easy Tips
What makes a shopping experience great? How can you sell more cannabis once you bring consumers to your dispensary? While these questions don’t have a clear-cut answer, this guide will help you sell more at your dispensary and give your customers a great shopping experience.
Tip #1: Build bigger baskets with cannabis product menus & displays
Too often, destination shoppers come in searching for one specific product. However, letting a customer buy that one product and leaving is a missed opportunity. Them leaving without browsing prevents the customer from seeing your selection of products and having the chance to spend more. How can a new cannabis product catch their eye while they look for their intended product if they never look at the menu?
Presenting your full menu has been shown to increase customer purchases. A recent study by Progressive Grocer showed that 25% of shoppers who use digital devices add more products to their purchases.
Here’s how digital devices can allow you to increase your sales:
Show off your full menu using technology
Products such as the BudGuide Tablet allow you to show off all your categories to your customers. Then, when filtering through products to find their intended product, the menu will bring attention to other products that your customer might not have considered.
Using product menus to encourage impulse purchases
You can encourage impulse purchases by choosing the right products (excitement, urgency, value), putting them in the right place (right before the check-out page), and grabbing the shopper’s attention (text prompts such as “do you want to add this product for $X?” Or “people frequently purchase together”). This will give the chance for attractive products to catch the attention of customers before they make their purchase.
Tip #2: Engage your customer in a high-value conversation
Have you ever walked into a store thinking you knew what you wanted, but saw the wide selection of products and realized you had no clue? You shouldn’t assume a customer knows what they want since sometimes, they don’t even know what they want. By asking better opening questions, you can learn more about the pain points and needs of the customer.
According to a study done by the Alliance Center for Global Research and Development, 70% of customers decide what they want after they walk into a store. This makes engaging the customer in a dialogue even more important. Here are some ways to do this without coming off as too “salesy”
Acknowledge customers within 15-30 seconds of being in the dispensary. This will make them feel like they are being helped, but also not attacked as soon as they walk in.
Some of the most effective greetings to retail customers are “what are you looking for today” or “can I help you find anything today?”. If they have an idea of what they’re looking for, leading them to the product will save them time and make a difference in their experience. If they answer “just browsing” let them know your name and that you’ll be around if they need help (don’t hover or be pushy). A less confrontational approach is introducing yourself and letting them know to ask you if they need any help.
Recognize your customer if you’ve seen them before. This has been proven to result in a 16% increase in sales based on a study done by Store Traffic.
Compliment appropriately to build rapport with your customers. Be careful not to come off as fake and to keep your compliments genuine.
Tip #3: Give your customer a great dispensary shopping experience
What keeps a customer coming back? Why do people travel long distances for their favourite stores? Giving your customer a great shopping experience is the answer to these questions. Here are some ways you can have your customers raving about your dispensary.
Make the customer excited to use the product and confident in their purchase. By engaging in a conversation and demonstrating selection you have the best chance of creating that excitement.
Show how the cannabis product uniquely meets the customer’s needs and its benefits.
Give the customer a deeper understanding of the value of the product. By answering any product questions the customer might have, you can help educate them. This will leave them feeling like they gained something positive from the experience in the form of product knowledge.
Let the customer know they got a good deal/fair price. When shopping around similar dispensaries, customers want to be sure they paid the best price for the product they bought. This can be done by understanding how your products are priced compared to competitors, and being able to explain why some products may be priced at a premium which demonstrates why the product is at the right price. This, added to any price promotions will have your customer knowing they got the best deal possible.
Keep the buying process convenient for the customer (no lines, no checkout hassle, easy to find what they want). Think of the last time you went shopping and there was a long line to get served or at the check-out counter, would you be happy to return to that store? Helping your customer find the product they want will also speed up the buying process. Cutting out aimlessly wandering around the store trying to find the product they’re looking for is beneficial to both sides. Lower wait times for dispensaries result in more sales, less customer dissatisfaction, and less staff required on the floor at one time allowing for lower-wage expenses.
What’s stopping your
budtenders from selling more?
So why wouldn’t you Incorporate these tips into your dispensary sales strategy? Increase your sales and leave your customers feeling great about their purchases. These actionable ingredients to success will provide value to your dispensary as soon as you incorporate them.