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Understanding Consumers & Ensuring Repeat Customers
The United States holds the largest portion of legal recreational cannabis sales worldwide, with almost $34 billion in generated revenue in 2023.
The USA’s cannabis market has seen exponential growth over the last decade. In 2016, the USA’s legal cannabis market saw a mere 7 billion in generated revenue, but each year saw tremendous growth. In 2024, the country is expected to generate nearly $40 billion in revenue, with projections of hitting nearly 57 billion by 2028.
Data gathered from Statista.com
Dispensaries are standing at the forefront of the cannabis business explosion, with nearly 15,000 dispensaries open across the country. And as a result, a dispensary’s long-term success rides on being better than the competition. This blog reveals some key ways dispensary owners can outshine their competitors by catering to the local target market and taking advantage of their space with an impactful layout that will keep customers coming back.
Tapping Into the Target Market
Effectively promoting your dispensary will increase foot-traffic and drive sales. The more people that visit your store, the more successful it will be. With this in mind, you should consider the following questions: What sets your dispensary apart in your community? Why should consumers choose to shop at your store instead of the store across the street?
Understanding your target market is the first step to answering both of these questions.
Your target market is a specific group of people that you’re trying to reach out to. These people should be the most interested and most likely to shop at your dispensary. Determining your target market can be challenging, especially since marijuana consumers can be anyone over the age of 21 in the US.
Aside from generic branding targeted at who you ‘think’ might be most likely to stop at your dispensary you should instead focus on leveraging your location and community.
Ideally, you should try and secure a dispensary storefront location in a community that’s full of people, has a lot of foot-traffic, and isn’t already overwhelmed with dispensaries. Doing this will allow you to narrow down a universal target market — everyone in your local community.
But regardless of where you open, strive to become the most convenient, reliable, and engaging dispensary around. By taking this approach, your store will attract more visitors and generate higher sales than your (less convenient) competitors. This concept is called physical availability.
For dispensary owners, physical availability is all about becoming the number one choice in your community by making your dispensary storefront easy to find, access, learn about, and shop at both in person and online. In other words, shopping at your dispensary shouldn’t be a chore. A physically available dispensary should be well positioned in the local community (target market), and/or be easy to find and navigate to.
Regardless of what State you’re in, you’ll want to do everything you can to merge your dispensary into the community so you can tap into your target market. Focusing on the physical availability is your first step to success.
Be sure to research your state’s regulations regarding location compliance and set back distances. Some states will require location occupancy as a part of the application process, while others will require the licensee to disclose their location after the license has been issued.
Closing the Gap
Regardless of how well you have positioned your dispensary and accommodated your target market, you’ll need to consider that your business is new in the cannabis marketplace. Not only is it new to the community, it’s also new to most of the US. As a result, you’ll need to close the knowledge gap by helping consumers at every step of the way and making the shopping experience simple. This starts with your dispensary’s design and layout. Get access to specific information about the three best dispensary layouts to maximize dispensary sales and customer return by accessing the pdf linked below!
Regardless of whether you’re planning to open a dispensary, or if you already have an operating dispensary storefront: CannDelta can help you at every step of the way. Our team of dedicated experts have helped launch over 300 successful cannabis businesses all over North America. Our excellence lies in our ability to structure your business for guaranteed success. We offer detailed dispensary floor plans and designs, dispensary business plans, marketing packages, and everything else you’ll need to make your dispensary outshine your competitors.
Want to open a dispensary, but not sure where to start? Get in touch with CannDelta today by filling the form below!
Frequently Asked Questions
What do I Need to Know to Start my own Marijuana Dispensary?
The most important things to know before you have your dispensary open are the regulations and licensing process in your state. You will want to have a thorough understanding of what you can and cannot do, and apply for a dispensary license accordingly. Be sure to have enough capital to cover the application costs, build-out expenses, consulting fees, a dispensary business plan, and more. Getting your dispensary open and operating can be a very challenging process that heavily relies on your state’s regulations.
How do I Expand my Small Cannabis Dispensary?
Cannabis business consulting is a great way to navigate the complexities involved in expanding a dispensary. Whether you’re trying to expand the physical space of your brick and mortar dispensary location, or open new locations, you will need to consult your state’s regulations and receive approval. Cannabis business consulting is the most effective way to navigate this process.
How do I Make my Dispensary Stand out?
There are numerous ways you can make your dispensary stand out. Developing a robust marketing plan and focusing on brand development are two of the keys to standing out in the cannabis industry. There are numerous state specific regulations that impact the how and when dispensaries advertise. It’s important to familiarize yourself with your state’s regulations when developing a marketing plan for your dispensary.
How do I Open a Dispensary in the USA?
The process of opening a dispensary in the USA depends on the state you are planning to open a dispensary in. Each State has different regulations that dictate the licensing process and operational procedures involved in opening a dispensary. Working with cannabis business consultants will be beneficial to anyone that wants to open a dispensary in the USA.
How Much Money do the Marijuana Dispensaries Make?
Dispensary revenue depends on a variety of things including the cannabis marketplace in your state, how effective you’ve marketed your business, your dispensary floor plan, and more. Annual dispensary revenue can range into the millions once it’s fully operational.
