Despite a federal crackdown that has forced hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries nationwide to close up shop over the past year, the cannabis industry is still highly competitive.
In many states with MMJ laws, cannabis businesses are competing aggressively to lure patients and keep them over the long haul. A fair share of medical marijuana customers seek out the best deals and cheapest prices on any given day, making it hard to earn patient loyalty.
But there’s a relatively easy way for marijuana dispensaries to get customers in the door and ensure they return again and again: Start a loyalty program.
A recent patient survey conducted by Medical Marijuana Business Daily found that 40% of customers want their dispensaries to have a customer loyalty or rewards program. Whether it involves a simple paper punch card that provides freebies and discounts or a plastic card that allows patients to accrue points, these programs can help set one dispensary apart from another. And because the medical marijuana industry is still so new, many dispensaries don’t yet have these programs in place, meaning the competitive advantage of starting one is greater than it is in most sectors of the business world.
So how to you start one? Medical Marijuana Business Daily has just published a new handbook that outlines how a dispensary can go about launching a rewards program, what MMC owners can expect to pay and the different ways a business can reward customers. It also features sample reward programs you can use as a template – including card design ideas – as well as a vendor list and a checklist to make sure you cover all the bases.
The handbook is now on sale in our new online store, where you can also check out our other cannabis business books for the MMJ industry.
