It’s almost been a year since California legalized cannabis industry in the state. As the cannabis industry keeps growing, many are looking at California Cannabis at Six Months: Lessons to Learn from Colorado? This means more companies are taking advantage of technology to gain customers via a solid Point-of-Sale (POS) system. Not every POS system is the best. It’s important to consider some important factors when picking a POS system.
Consider User Experience and Product Design
These things are vital in a great POS System. A well-designed cannabis-specific POS must do certain things such as help save time with day-to-day operations. Staff turnover is always an issue. The cannabis industry isn’t immune to this occurrence. This means a POS must be easy to use for staff members and budtenders. The system must save time when processing sales and managing inventory.
It must improve budtender performance. A well-designed POS will assist in boosting the budtenders performance by making the product information easily accessible. Stock levels, strain descriptions and conditions treated must be available to budtenders immediately. This will help them provide the answers to questions customers are asking.
One challenge dispensaries face is presenting their budtenders with sales and customer data. By having a POS system address the challenge, dispensaries can maximize their sales. This means having customers’ buying data and preferences tracked such as favored strains immediately available.
The POS System Must Provide Stability and Reliability
Another priority for dispensaries picking a POS system is the stability and reliability of the POS platform. Data breaches can occur to any company. Some dispensaries outside of California have been hacked. That’s why it’s important to have a reliable and stable POS system. The platform should include features like emergency backup system.
Besides an emergency backup system, a dispensary should create procedures and policies that keep the cannabis business operating if something happens to the technical infrastructure.
Decide Whether the POS System Will Be Locally Hosted or Cloud-Based
Local hosting involves a dispensary setting up and running their own computer server. The cost of this comes from buying hardware and hiring additional IT staff to resolve all technological issues. They would monitor software and equipment. They’d also contact any support team connected with the POS system to keep abreast of any changes to the system.
Cloud-based technology allows a dispensary to store data on a remote server maintained and operated by a third party. This is the most popular and cost-effective option. The dispensary can focus on sales and not tech issues.
Pick a POS System that Keeps the Company Compliant
Compliance is the number one administrative hassle dispensaries must follow. Mistakenly violating one of the laws can lead revocation of a dispensary license. This means more than loss of profits. It’s means the business is closed.
The POS system should have advanced reporting functionality to help track every cannabis sale. The system should keep track of cannabis calculations to avoid a dispensary becoming non-compliant. Labeling each product is another consideration when picking a POS system.