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Cannabis to go is on the move. Delivery service companies doubled in 2021, with growth expected to continue in that vertical. If your dispensary doesn’t provide a delivery service, now is the time to get in the game.
But many dispensary owners think adding a delivery service is something they can handle themselves. They figure if flowers can be delivered, so can weed. Unfortunately, cannabis is nothing like floral delivery. You’re dealing with a Schedule 1 plant. You can’t simply pay someone an hourly rate to drive and drop weed from the dispensary to a customer’s location. The logistics of cannabis delivery are extremely complex, including developing a robust mobile app and staying compliant with local laws and regulations.
A second business
Think of cannabis delivery as a second business on top of the one you’re running. From understanding compliance laws, vetting drivers, developing an app, and insuring vehicles and drivers, a dispensary delivery option takes a massive amount of time and effort. Once it’s up and running, you need someone to schedule drivers, ensure the app is working properly, teach the drivers the compliance laws, ensure inventory is accurate for the app/website and regulation standards, and so on.
Even doing the bare minimum leaves a lot of potential money on the table for dispensary owners. Unless you want to start a second full-time business, it may be best to outsource your dispensary’s delivery service.
A tech solution
Leveraging technology is the best way to have an efficient and cost-effective app for cannabis delivery. A third-party delivery app should have advanced technology such as location tracking (exact location up to the apartment number), data collection, in-app messaging, and notifications for the dispensary and customer. A robust solution can be used as a marketing tool, but it can also offer real-time information such as visibility and analytics to effortlessly manage day-to-day operations or live GPS tracking and route progress views. This helps dispensary owners streamline delivery by optimizing routes. Some other things to consider when deciding which technology to use include insights capturing, barcode scanning, customer notifications, accurate compliance, and signature capture.
Risk management
Everyone in the cannabis industry understands the risk factors involved. Violating laws can lead to life-altering consequences. Outsourcing cannabis delivery alleviates the risk factor for accidentally (or purposely) breaking cannabis compliance laws. Fully bonded and insured logistic companies understand the regulations and laws regarding cannabis delivery in their states of operations, so dispensary owners don’t have to. A great delivery solution has a robust understanding of compliance and the industry landscape across the country because each state has varying regulations.
