The Importance of Merchandising in Cannabis Retail 

Preview: Merchandising involves various tactics to appeal to customers. Here are some ways in which merchandising should be carefully considered when it comes to your dispensary. 

Merchandising Defined

Marijuana Retail Report aptly defines merchandising as “the term that refers to a wide scope of business and marketing strategies involving the use of ambient tactics – usually attractive displays – to present products to consumers in appealing ways in order to improve sales.” In other words, merchandising is “properly curating the customer experience.” 

The big potential for captivating customers is through visual merchandising. 

For dispensaries, an aesthetic layout, intuitive floor plan, and strategic shelving all contribute to an appealing atmosphere. Everything, from music choices to lighting preferences, should align with the desired feel of the space.  

Research conducted on one’s customer base can help dictate these decisions. The ambiance behind the space should resonate with customers so that they feel comfortable and more willing to make purchases that they did not necessarily set out to make when they entered.

The big potential for captivating customers is through visual merchandising.  

Visual merchandising involves in-store tactics, strategic shelving, placement of products, and digital signage.

According to Marijuana Retail Report, successful visual merchandising does all the following: 

• Places product or product information in a highly visible area of the store;
• Tells the product story visually through graphics and effective signage;
• Provides plenty of promotional materials that emphasize product benefits,
• Creates a positive in-store experience centered on the promoted product. 

Successful digital signage in the store should clearly communicate information, help customers navigate the store with ease, and make use of calls to action.  

When it comes to product displays, dispensaries do well when they show off a variety of products and rotate merchandise periodically around the store.

This generates more excitement and a sense of discovery for in-store customers.  

Stores can also set up displays centered on specific brand collections. These should be placed in high-traffic areas of the store to draw as much attention as possible.  

The question of products brings us to a big question when it comes to merchandising: which products should a store carry?  

As a Green Bits blog points out, dispensaries can and should be particular about the aesthetics and quality of the products they carry. The products on display should reflect the target customer base and community of the dispensary. In their words, “the ideal cannabis retail aesthetic is the one best aligned with the actual products on shelves.

The dispensary has to present itself as a reflection of the products it sells.”  

This being said, a saturated market and limited shelf space have become more common in the cannabis dispensary industry.

Competition among many brands means there aren’t enough retailers that have space to carry so many brands. 

This has led to retailers in some states charging brands slotting fees for space on their shelves. 

Slotting fees are something of a gray area, and it spells bad news for smaller companies that cannot afford to pay hundreds to thousands of dollars to get their products in retail stores. For retailers, this climate leaves something to consider when striving to be a reflection of the products they sell.  

Conclusion

In the end, merchandising is all about looking at buying behavior, brand image, and aesthetics. Everything from attractive displays to product selections should be carefully considered by dispensary owners.  

About Paywana

Paywana provides self-ordering kiosks run by our proprietary to Cannabis and CBD dispensaries to reduce labor costs and increase profits, We offer everything needed to efficiently operate and manage your dispensary including interactive kiosk software, Cannabis, and CBD friendly payment processing solutions. SCHEDULE A DEMO Paywana.com.