Dispensary Software Streamlines Inventory Management
Running a business in the marijuana industry is no easy feat. It requires constant tracking and, reporting and compliance with state-specific regulations.
Dispensary owners need a specialized point-of-sale (POS) system for their unique business needs. A POS system documents sales data digitally to help manage industry compliance and facilitate audits.
Real-time Inventory Tracking
Real-time inventory tracking means that you’re digitally recording every change to inventory as it happens rather than at pre-determined intervals (like with cycle counting). This allows for quicker reaction to changes in supply chain needs and can help reduce costs by enabling businesses to avoid ordering excess inventory.
In addition, real-time tracking can help a company improve customer service and product availability. It can be very frustrating for customers to find a product they want in your online store only to discover that it’s not currently available. This frustration can lead to a lost sale and negative reviews on social media.
Using real-time tracking software can eliminate this problem by ensuring that your customers always have a transparent view of what’s currently available to purchase. It also helps you avoid wasting money on dead inventory by analyzing historical data and accurately anticipating future demand shifts.
If you’re managing multiple warehouses across the country or world, maintaining accurate inventory visibility at each location can be difficult. But with real-time tracking, businesses can use this data to optimize inventory levels at each warehouse based on history and forecasting. It can also calculate the right amount of safety stock for each warehouse, reducing storage costs and minimizing wasted capital.
Alerts
With cannabis sales booming and the industry growing, dispensaries must keep track of numerous regulatory compliance rules. These include customer age restrictions, purchase limits, documentation, staff protocols, and security policies. If a business fails to comply with these regulations, it can face fines and even revoke its license.
Dispensary software helps owners manage these compliance issues by recording everything digitally and alerting them when any rules are violated. For example, a dispensary POS system can alert the owner when a transaction does not meet customer age or purchase limits compliance rules. It can also record information like shift timings and schedules of store employees. It can also handle the dispatch and delivery of products and inventory. In addition, it can store transaction data to produce real-time financial reports, including profits, losses, and expenses.
Besides ensuring compliance, a cannabis POS solution can help dispensary owners monitor their stores’ performance and make critical decisions that affect their business growth. It can also assist them with reducing fraud and theft by detecting suspicious transactions.
When looking for dispensary POS software, ask potential providers to show you a demo and let you test it out. This will give you a good idea of how easy the software is and whether it fits your business.
Integrations
In the cannabis, CBD, and dispensary industry, it’s imperative that businesses closely monitor their inventory to avoid significant fines, revocation of license, or even arrest. With integrations, you can leverage the power of your POS system throughout every workflow in your dispensary. For example, a POS that allows mobile ordering is ideal because it can enable your budtenders to provide customers with a more flexible and customizable customer service experience.
Dispensary software that tracks inventory can also help prevent costly stock-outs by providing a clear picture of what you have and need. Using dynamic reordering features lets you set thresholds for when it’s time to buy new products and alerts you when sales are slowing down, giving you more control over your inventory levels.
Recording sales data is another valuable feature of a good dispensary POS, which can be used to identify trends and make more intelligent business decisions for forecasting inventory needs, staffing appropriately during busy times, offering segmented discounts and coupons to your loyal client base, and improving marketing tactics to attract new customers.
Fraud detection is another essential function to look for in your dispensary POS. This capability in your software can help you protect your business against theft, which employees or other clients may cause.
Customization
A well-implemented cannabis POS software solution will give staff members the tools they need to serve consumers best. Adding mobile and tablet capabilities to your dispensary point-of-sale software will untether your team from a static POS station, allowing them to streamline customer service workflows and boost the number of transactions they can process.
Implementing a seed-to-sale traceability system is crucial to managing your inventory efficiently. Since state regulations dictate that cannabis is sold on a lot-by-lot basis, you need to track each batch from when it enters your warehouse until a customer purchases it. A good POS system will automate this process, making it easy to stay compliant and reduce costs.
Using data and analytics features within your POS system will help you gain valuable insights into consumer preferences and behaviors. This information will help you forecast inventory needs, understand your top-selling products, and even inform how you decorate and staff your retail space. In addition, tracking inventory and sales data from your POS system will allow you to set profit-maximizing prices. As a result, you can attract more customers and keep them returning for more of your top-selling items.
