Providing your customers with a modern retail experience is a crucial competitive advantage in California's oversaturated cannabis market. Luckily, integrated payment solutions such as ACH banking and PIN debit allow both customers and dispensaries to escape the cash trap while helping boost sales volume and decreasing the security risks—and costs—associated with running an all-cash business.
Here are three reasons your California dispensary should make the switch to cashless payments ASAP.
Dozens of dispensaries have been the targets of a wave of recent robberies, inspiring a national call to reform the federal banking rules that make it difficult for dispensaries to accept credit cards.
In 2022, there were more reports of robberies, burglaries, assault with a deadly weapon, and other crimes at Los Angeles dispensaries than during any other stretch since cannabis became available for retail sale in 2016. In February, there were 14 reported crimes—the highest ever since 2018. January had 10 crimes, while November and December had eight each. In previous years, the average monthly number of crimes never reached five.
Implementing a secure cashless payment solution like Dutchie Pay or PIN debit will help ensure your state-legal, legitimate dispensary operates like any other type of business—while making it a less appealing target for theft.
Another consequent result of transitioning to cashless payments is an increase in basket size per customer. Dispensaries that enable cashless transactions with Dutchie see an increase of up to 25% in average order value (AOV)—leading to boosted sales volume and revenue.
Upselling and cross-selling techniques are also much easier to execute in a cashless environment; customers are way more likely to buy into upsells when they don’t have to physically remove cash from their wallets to do so. This drives ROI (Return on Investment) and ultimately increases the overall profitability of your dispensary.
Lastly, customers’ attitudes directly affect the size of their purchases and where they shop. If you make shopping (and paying) for cannabis more convenient for your customers, you could likely encourage them to keep returning.
One last benefit of using a cashless payment solution in your dispensary is that your checkout workflow will be incredibly swift. When budtenders are trying to move a line of customers through the checkout process, things can get hectic fast. Humans aren't perfect, after all—we can drop money, lose the change, or miscount. But you can eliminate all these risks with a cashless or digital payment solution.
P.S. Did you know that the transition to cashless payments correlates with up to a 15% increase in the number of transactions processed per hour?
Just selling cannabis doesn’t make a dispensary successful anymore; today's consumers have limitless options—and high expectations. As a dispensary operator in California, you need to differentiate on your business on customer experience, and a seamless checkout workflow is an essential part of that.
A quick Google search will show you that consumers are actively looking for dispensaries near them that accept debit cards. Implementing a PIN debit or digital bank-to-bank (ACH) solution will instantly separate your dispensary from the competition, especially if you're doing SEO effectively.
The best part? Cashless payments can increase revenue and help find (and retain) customers with little to no cost to you.
Dutchie is here to support California dispensary operators with our industry-leading Payments solutions. Our integrated PIN debit solution, in conjunction with Dutchie Pay's successful launch of in-store payments, allows us to streamline your business operations with payment solutions you need—and your customers love.
Did we mention that over 70% of shoppers who use Dutchie Pay at a dispensary return to that dispensary within 90 days?
Let's grow together, California. Get in touch today to learn more.
