How a Dispensary Loyalty Program Can Grow Sales

A dispensary loyalty program is one of the most impactful marketing tools at your fingertips. This initiative helps attract, retain, and reward customers, whether you are a single location or multi-state operator. Dispensaries are increasingly adopting rewards programs that give loyal customers special deals based on accrual of loyalty points based on spending.

In addition, these programs are a cost effective way to advertise, especially given the restrictions on cannabis industry marketing. Consistent and strategic use of daily deals and loyalty points can help drive sales and customer retention.

Read on to find out more about how loyalty programs can build customer loyalty, increase brand visibility, and boost revenue.

Dispensary Loyalty Programs Build and Grow A Customer Base

A dispensary loyalty program can help a dispensary to increase and retain its customer base, which is essential for success.

You can easily share information about exclusive deals, pre-releases, and product drops through your dispensary loyalty program communications. Daily or weekly emails or text messages can talk about the strain of the day, cannabis for wellness, or operational updates. Cannabis retail customers will appreciate affordable deals as well as informational content.

Customers develop a strong affinity to a dispensary, much like people do to their favorite restaurants or coffee shops. A dispensary can show customer appreciation similar to techniques used in the food industry.

Some strategies to increase cannabis customer engagement at a dispensary include giving away swag, offering double points, or other similar promotions. Dispensary customers love getting member reward text alerts with offers for free gifts like T-shirts or rolling trays!

However, it is a savvy business decision to offer a robust dispensary loyalty program that goes beyond exclusive discounts and promotions. A dynamic program will distinguish your dispensary’s loyalty system from competitors’ programs. An exemplary program will have features such as:

• Status and recognition opportunities
• Gamification or consumption tracking features
• Involvement with social and environmental causes (ex. promotional discounts for donations during Pride Month, Black history month, mental wellness month, etc.).
• Updates on the dispensary’s involvement in the local community

These features increase brand awareness and provide opportunities for program member engagement.

Loyalty Programs Boost Revenue

Cannabis loyalty programs can influence dispensary spending behavior and increase sales. Dispensary loyalty members visit retail sites more frequently and purchase more products per transaction than non-loyalty customers. They also spend roughly 13% more per visit. Dispensary loyalty programs have something to offer every customer, so you can maximize the power of this marketing tool.

The Brightfield Research Group recommends that dispensaries establish an emotional connection with customers. This engagement builds dispensary customer loyalty and helps dispensaries remain competitive once federal legalization expands the market.

Use a Dispensary Loyalty Program to Optimize Operations

The best dispensary programs send customers regular updates on promotions and events, to keep them coming back regularly. Many programs include automated birthday promotions and emails introducing the latest product drops.

You can start with a simple dispensary loyalty program that relies on a punch card to keep track of rewards. Electronic reward stamp apps (for example, Reward Stamp App) are helpful tools for those dispensaries dependent on cash only transactions.

It’s better to have a low-tech program than no program at all. But a digital loyalty program is most impactful.

Integrating A Dispensary Loyalty Program with Other Technological Tools

Digital dispensary loyalty programs provide a solid foundation for marketing efforts and daily operational procedures. Dispensary loyalty programs can be integrated with Point of Sale (POS) systems for quicker, more accurate, and more efficient customer service.

A digital dispensary loyalty program allows you to be very responsive to customer base behavior. For example, push out advance notices about flash sales to generate more traffic into your dispensary. If you want to increase traffic to your dispensary on a slow day, try sending out a sale notification. You may see an uptick in visits during the specified time frame.

Integrating a program with a feedback platform for post-shopping questions is a great way to collect and analyze customer data.
You will get rich, meaningful data by using technology to streamline operational processes.

Dispensary loyalty programs allow you to track sales data, customer demographics and purchase patterns over time. This information can help you identify trends and make decisions about product offerings and marketing. Dispensary loyalty programs help dispensaries track customer insights such as spending per visit, popular products, and purchase frequency.

Many programs allow customers to earn points for referring a friend. Some companies increase their referral rewards activity by creating electronic messages that can be shared with friends and family. In return, the company awards points to the referring customer’s account. Dispensary loyalty programs are a creative, easy and cost effective way to satisfy veteran customers and reach new ones.

Best Practices in Cannabis Loyalty Programs

Think about the strategy of structuring your dispensary loyalty program. Some dispensaries use points per visit, but many dispensary owners report the points per purchase method is more effective. Customers respond positively to points per amount of dollars spent and results in more frequent shopping visits.

To get an edge on your competitors, use best dispensary SEO practices when creating dispensary loyalty program marketing materials. Create SEO enhanced content to educate customers on products and you’ll increase conversions.

Which Companies Are Key Players in the Dispensary Loyalty Program Space?

Springbig, Sprout, and Alpine IQ are some of the more established companies helping cannabis businesses enhance their dispensary loyalty programs.

Springbig is one of the largest companies in the dispensary loyalty programs niche. Springbig integrates with POS systems like Flowhub. Sprout is another key player on the cannabis marketing scene. Alpine IQ offers dispensary loyalty program software as well as CRM.

Power your Dispensary Loyalty Program with the Right Digital Tools

Contact Clutch for more information about our digital marketing services. We would love to help you integrate and grow your dispensary loyalty program.