Imagine: The Luxury Dispensary Experience

In the United States, one can only legally purchase cannabis at a dispensary. The cannabis industry continues to evolve as the legalization trend continues, and dispensaries are undergoing major makeovers as well. It is becoming increasingly common to see dispensaries look more like high-end retailers than in years past, and notable San Francisco examples include Apothecarium, Harvest and Medithrive.

Shango in Las Vegas, a 4,000 sf dispensary in a 77,000 sf vertically integrated facility

As the supplier market continues to grow, so has the vast array of products available on shelves. It is not uncommon to be faced with hundreds of options today, and new products are being introduced at a feverish pace. While some customers may know exactly what they intend to purchase, many don’t even understand or appreciate the difference between the hundreds of flower strains and the many types of extracts. With product categories such as rosin, live resin, shatter, oil, wax, kief, nectar, hash, reclaim and QWISO, one can hardly blame them.With states adopting adult-use laws and paving the way towards full federal legalization, it is more important than ever for the industry to provide consistent and quality education to consumers and for dispensaries to provide an excellent experience to create a loyal consumer. It is also becoming increasingly important for dispensaries to streamline their traffic flow. A well-designed layout not only influences the movement of customers through the store, it can also encourage certain shopping behavior. Besides layout, many hardware and software solutions have been introduced to improve education, supply, flow and the overall shopping experience.There are thousands of incredible companies that focus on this increasingly important part of the industry, and these include Hypur (Payment Solutions), Cannabis Club TV (Digital Signage Networks), The Peak Beyond (Interactive Smart Displays), Tradiv (E-Commerce Platform), MJ Freeway (Enterprise Solution), Meadow (Prescription and Delivery) and Webjoint (Cloud Based Software). These and the many other amazing companies like them provide products and services that will benefit consumers in a myriad of ways.These benefits include a reduction in wait times, an increase in point of sale promotion, a wider array of product choice, integrated payment options, interactive education, and brand development. Additional trends including themed dispensaries and more earth-friendly recycling programs will only continue to improve service, atmosphere, product quality, and customer engagement at the thousands of dispensaries across America.

In highly competitive environments, brands are judged not only for price or quality, but for the experience they build for consumers.