With Illinois becoming one of 15 states with legal recreational marijuana, many dispensaries are, or should be, thinking about their online presence.
Considering the many hurdles it’s taken to get to this point, you definitely don’t want your customers having to jump through any.
With long lines and sticker shock being big factors the last thing you want is someone to choose a competing dispensary over yours.
This might not be a super pertinent idea for Illinois business owners, since most are already large corporations, but perhaps elsewhere, it’s more prevalent.
Let’s get started with one of the more obvious reasons.
Federally insured banks cannot accepting credit card based or even cash deposits (it being still federally illegal and all). The question becomes how can you make the ordering experience easier for customers if you can’t take the ways they want to pay?
Being a cash only business, will have its up’s and down’s. Especially in keeping track of transactions. And you’ll definitely want to keep track of everything.
So, I’m sure you’re wondering how would a website help with this?
Both Magento and WooCommerce, and I’m sure every other e-Commerce platform, has an option for cash payments. Don’t have a sophisticated accounting software like Quickbooks?
At least you can have a rudimentary transactional log of inventory sold.
Which brings us to the next point.
Ever stood in line for 4 hours to be told once you get to the front of the line, “Sorry, we’re out.”
There’s probably only a few things in life as infuriating as that sentence after waiting patiently. It’s usually enough for people start bashing your business online — especially if it’s a recurring thing.
One of the things all e-comm platforms have to get right is inventory management. Not as robust as a dedicated inventory management system, they’ll certainly provide you with a helicopter view of your businesses inventory.
Sure you could keep your inventory on paper and track everything by hand, but if you have another option, and you already have a website, why not use it?
It’s well known that a website is your 24/7, 365, brand cheerleader. It’s up at 2am enticing customers and making competition jealous. Every business needs that, no industry is immune to putting its best face forward these days.
With a well designed and built website, you’ll be attracting customers with ease. Capturing competitor customers who choose your business over another, all because yours was easier to understand and navigate.
Have an awesome logo? Customers will know before they step foot in your brick and mortar. There’ll be brand recognition and an expectation of the level of service. All from having a good website.
Ever been standing in line and the person in front of you is playing 21 questions with the cashier?
You can almost eliminate this frustrating phenomenon by having a clear FAQ section of your website. With cannabis in particular, having a guide of sorts for newcomers would definitely save your employees from having to be distracted by the same 5 questions daily.
Find this article helpful in deciding if your dispensary needs a website? Been wanting a functional website for your dispensary or other business but didn’t know where to start? Contact TopOut Group today and one of our experts will be glad to go over any questions you might have in getting your business online.
