Having efficient operations within the cannabis industry is extremely important, as it’s common for dispensary operators to run into problems as they scale without a plan. One of the biggest things to consider is a cannabis point-of-sale system, which involves the streamlining of specific metrics like compliance, keeping track of inventory, and improving the overall customer experience.
We’ve put together a quick guide for you to make this switch simple and easy.
One of the most important steps in streamlining your efficiency and improving your productivity is being able to assess the current system you’re operating with. It’s ideal if you can pinpoint accurately what exactly is slowing down your efficiency, including but not limited to: manual processes, old software, or “break” points where communication/efficiency is disrupted in the pipeline.
From there, you should identify what your specific needs are right now.
Do you need a more organized inventory? Are there problems with your current payment processor? Are you losing out on valuable customer emails due to inefficiency?
There are many different options available to you in the cannabis industry. It’s important to assess features like automating compliance, being able to track cannabis inventory in real-time, and scalability.
It’s important to find a solution that also fits within your budget and makes sense from a financial standpoint. Your point-of-sale cannabis solution should not be something that is excessively expensive or unreasonable.
The next major step in this process is going to be getting your team involved to help you use whichever new system you chose, and train them on how to use this system effectively. You’re going to want to mention some of the most important components and keep supporting your staff if they have any technical issues.
With some vendors, this onboarding process might be a little slow and painful at first, but Toke makes it easier. Make sure your data stays protected during the migration as well as making sure your flows (loyalty programs, email sequences, etc.) remain in place.
After finishing this onboarding process, you’re going to want to test your system as best you can. One of the main ways you can do this without interrupting the current point of sale system you have in place is to run a “soft launch”, or a simple test to figure out any issues you might have. Your employees should be able to give you their opinions on how they think it went, as well as listing out any potential difficulties or “stopping points”.
It’s your goal to figure out how to fix these “stopping points”, which might interrupt the flow of an email. This could be where down the marketing funnel, you see a massive point of disengagement from your audience, or perhaps have an issue with the accuracy of your inventory reporting. Any of these hiccups could put the success of your point of sale system in jeopardy, so be sure to look out for them.
You’re also going to want to ensure that the POS system you're using is in compliance with the law, as well as local, state, and federal regulations regarding cannabis use and sale. Laws oftentimes change, however usually they become more lenient over time.
Before jumping to conclusions, remember it really does depend on where you are. In some states, launching your business with your point of sale system will be really easy, whereas in others there might be some roadblocks to overcome.
Just about every cannabis point of sale system will have a quality analytics tool that you can use to see how you’re performing, as well as keep up to date with your inventory and client satisfaction.
Remember that numbers don’t lie - if there’s an issue or data barrier somewhere that is harming your repeat business or conversions, be sure to fix it as soon as possible.
You should be able to continuously track your data and figure out ways to optimize and improve your point of sale system, and improve customer satisfaction/conversion over time.
Keep in mind that the more systems you’re able to put in place, the more efficient you’ll be and the faster you’ll be able to grow your cannabis dispensary business. Using a point of sale platform like Toke is the best way to implement that.
The guidance you need to take your dispensary to the next level.
Let us show you why Toke is the POS your dispensary needs.
.svg)