Marijuana Dispensary Software 2022

Choosing the right marijuana dispensary software is crucial before you open. This tech isn’t just a cash register—it’s your compliance tool, inventory manager, sales driver, and customer platform.

Cannabis consumers are no longer looking for the cannabis dispensary with the best strains. Nowadays, every dispensary out there has a pretty impressive inventory. What they’re looking for is convenience.

In this guide, we breakdown everything you need to know about marijuana dispensary software—including compliance integrations, usability, support, pricing, and scalability.

To keep up with the ever-changing customer preferences and business demands, you need software to help you get things done faster and more efficiently. That’s where marijuana dispensary software comes in. Read on and learn about the best must-have marijuana dispensary software and some tips on choosing the best one.

Do You Have the Tools Required to Get the Job Done?

The cannabis technology space has literally exploded in the past few years. New tools emerge every other day, each tailored to provide the best experience for your customers and employees.

Some of these marijuana dispensary software solutions are vital to your regular business operations, while others are just nice-to-haves that help you run your business more efficiently. Let’s take a look at the must-haves.

Five Must-Have Dispensary Software

Point of Sale (POS) Systems

A marijuana dispensary software system is vital for any cannabis dispensary. Apart from handling your transaction processes, a POS system can also handle inventory management and customer check-ins. POS systems also come equipped with features that help ensure compliance and connectivity with your state’s seed-to-sale tracking system.

HR and Payroll Software

The cannabis industry created more than 80,000 jobs in 2020 alone. While this might sound like a good thing, it might be working against you. Picture this; you pay your employees’ salaries, benefits, as well as numerous exorbitant taxes. When you combine this with your normal business expenditure, it adds up to a lot of money – money that can be better utilized to spur business growth.

Cannabis-specific HR and payroll software enable you to cut down on manpower requirements for your cannabis dispensary, leading to huge cost savings.

E-commerce Software

Nowadays, people buy everything online, including weed. Dispensary e-commerce software features online menus and can facilitate more streamlined online ordering and delivery services.

Security Systems

You literally have the hottest product in the market right now and probably tons of cash stacked behind your register. This makes your cannabis dispensary a potential prospect for criminals looking to make some fast cash.

Protecting your cannabis dispensary isn’t just a smart move. It’s also a requirement in most states. As such, you should get a security provider with the most advanced security software to secure your business.

Accounting Software

Business is quite slow in the first days of opening a cannabis dispensary. You’ll rarely get any accounting issues unless you really suck at it. But, as your business grows, managing your expenses and revenue starts getting a little complicated.

Accounting software tailored for cannabis businesses allow you to manage your cash flow, pay bills, create balance sheets and P&Ls, and track outstanding invoices. With the right software, you can literally solve all your accounting issues at the touch of a button.

How to Choose the Best Dispensary Software

The cannabis industry has tons of tech companies. And although this might sound like a good thing, having an overwhelming abundance of choices can be a bad thing. Here are a few tips to help you choose the best software.

Plan Before You Buy

This might sound pretty straightforward, but marijuana dispensary software can be quite expensive and time-consuming to implement. Therefore, before committing to a particular software, evaluate your needs and make sure the software you’re choosing can address them. Ask yourself these questions before you make a choice:

What do your customers want?
What are your competitors doing?
How does the marijuana dispensary software fit into our vision for your marijuana dispensary?
Does this marijuana dispensary software solve your challenges?
How can this marijuana dispensary software enhance your customers’ experience?
Do you already have another marijuana dispensary software that can solve your challenges?

Once you know what you want from the marijuana dispensary software, you can start filling those needs with the best software for the job. There’s cannabis-specific software for everything you can think of, so this won’t be much of a problem.

Find Software With Excellent Customer Support

The marijuana software vendor you choose to work with must be able to support you with both the initial set-up and ongoing concerns. So, before you get into business with a software provider, ask the following questions to set expectations.

What are the onboarding requirements, and how long does it take?
Who do I contact with questions?
How long does it take you to respond to my email or call?
At what hours is your customer support team available?

While you’re at it, also try contacting their customer support team to see how easy it is to reach them.

Choose Software That Specializes in Cannabis

A marijuana dispensary is much like any other retail business, with one exception – compliance. Any retail software can help you with normal business operations. But only a few can manage the intricacies of cannabis compliance.

You should then choose a cannabis-specific software that provides outstanding services and adheres to cannabis compliance regulations. Luckily, you can find cannabis-specific software for everything you need. From inventory management to e-commerce and loyalty programs, there is cannabis-specific software designed to meet your needs.

The Bottom Line

Choosing marijuana dispensary software isn’t just about rings and bells—it’s about creating a coherent, compliant, and efficient business foundation. Start with ensuring METRC or your state’s tracking system is fully integrated. Prioritize a user-friendly interface and fast support—system downtimes can cost you compliance and sales.

As a marijuana dispensary owner, you must create a streamlined workflow while providing your customers with a superior, tailor-made shopping experience from check-in to check-out.

And although the industry is still young, there’s plenty of competition to go around. Integrating the best marijuana dispensary software with your vision for your dispensary can streamline your business’s operations and put you ahead of your competitors.