One of the biggest retail trends right now is to focus on the in-store experience, and that is no different for marijuana dispensaries. Today, the goal is to create a sense of community and personalized service allowing customers to interact with your budtenders and products, fully immersing themselves into your environment.

Digital technology is one of the easiest ways to elevate your in-store experience. With high-quality images, videos, or interactive digital menus you not only add credibility to your establishment, but your customer gets to know your brand much better than they would with static images.

So how do you use technologies like digital signage to help your dispensary grow?

1) Showcase Promotions

While it’s easy to market promotions on a website or with social media, there is often a disconnect for the customer once in-store. With digital signage, you can quickly and easily use your online assets in-store and avoid the cost of printing.

2) Localized Marketing

Rather than standardizing marketing for each of your locations, push different marketing materials to various places based on the demographics of the local consumers.

3) Focus on High-Margin Items

Digital signage doesn’t need to be about a promotion. Use the screens to focus on high-margin items and value propositions to peak your in-store customer’s interest.

4) Reduce Wait Times

Whether you have a waiting area or your customers are potentially just waiting in line, digital technology can help keep your customers in-store and occupied.

5) Integrate with Point-Of-Sale

With touchscreen menus, customers can push orders directly to the POS system. Doing so allows you to understand items customers were interested in but didn’t purchase, as well as those that are more likely to sell. You can also marry your digital signage promotions to your daily sales to understand your successful campaigns.

As with implementing any technology, digital signage doesn’t come without its key challenges. The cost of entry can be high with hardware and media investments, so it’s imperative that you find the right technology partner. Do your research to prepare for what's ahead.

When you have decided on the right partner, make sure you build a rollout plan together including pilot and testing strategies. You should also be sure to set clear goals. While showing a hard ROI can be difficult, it’s important to set clear objectives for your technologies.

Lastly, don’t be fooled into thinking digital technology is all you need. You have to look at your customer journey with a strategic viewpoint and think about what opportunities or pain points may exist. Remember that emotions are what turn us on in retail! Our senses lead to emotions, and those emotions are what lead to the purchase. Ask yourself how many goosebumps per square foot are you generating? Create a store that combines craftsmanship, fine details, natural elements, and digital technology.

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