Even though it’s now a legal substance, the delivery of marijuana via non-government means is still prohibited in Canada. Presently in Ontario, marijuana can be legally purchased online and delivered through a provincial government website. Private dispensaries with storefronts are expected to deliver to walk up customers beginning April 2019 . Even then, it’s expected that there will stringing regulations in place.
This isn’t necessarily a negative thing. In fact, dispensaries could find efficiencies and further improve sales should they choose to develop an on-demand app. Interested in finding out more? Read our blog on using an on-demand app to extend the reach of your dispensary
Here are a few reasons on how an On-Demand app can help drive sales to your Marijuana Dispensary.
Unparalleled convenience
Like anything else, buying marijuana should be a relatively painless experience, and an on-demand pick-up app is just another way to make it easier on your customers. Rather than come into the store and wait in line, customers can place their delivery on the app and then come in to pick it up with minimal to no wait times.
Allows for orders to be placed after hours
In Ontario, the hours for marijuana dispensaries will be 9:00am to 11:00pm, and chances are that even during the hours when your dispensary is closed, customers will still want to place an order. If they do so using an on-demand app, you can prepare their orders when you open for business the next day, and they can come pick it up at their leisure. The same goes for statutory holidays – if a customer places an order on Good Friday, for example, it’ll be ready for them to pick up the next business day. You can also set your app up to send notifications to let the customer know when their order is or will be ready.
Less help required
An on-demand pick-up app can actually cut down on the number of man hours that you’ll need to pay for, in that it can replace a traditional phone order system. If you take orders over the phone, you’ll need to hire someone who can take these orders during business hours, whereas the one-time development fee for an on-demand app, as well as applicable maintenance fees, is far less than an employee’s salary or hourly pay.
Easy to keep track of orders
Your on-demand app will inevitably come with a Dashboard that allows you to track all of your orders and data in one easy place. You can rest easy knowing that any orders placed on the app will be readily available for you to view at any time – including open orders, fulfilled orders, and cancelled orders.
Be sure to watch this space as we’ll be releasing more articles over the next few weeks that shed a light on the pros and cons of designing an on-demand app for your marijuana dispensary.
