Why Cannabis Must Embrace Traditional Retail

Why does the cannabis industry need to embrace traditional retail practices? The answer lies in the potential benefits that can be reaped by adopting proven solutions from traditional retail marketing and supply chain management techniques.

While the cannabis industry has its unique characteristics, integrating traditional approaches can bring about increased efficiency, improved customer experiences, and enhanced growth prospects.

Traditional Retail Principles Streamline Cannabis Supply Chains

In the fast-evolving cannabis landscape, traditional retail practices offer valuable lessons that can empower the industry to thrive. Take, for instance, the concept of a linear flow in the supply chain. Traditional retail embraces this approach, ensuring a smooth journey from manufacturer to consumer.

By applying this model to the cannabis industry, businesses can streamline production, distribution, warehousing, and retailing processes, ensuring a clear direction for their products.

Leveraging physical channels like trucks, warehouses, and physical storefronts, cannabis businesses can optimize the movement and storage of products, maximize accessibility, enhance their market presence, and streamline operations through the adoption of established distribution practices.

However, the federal illegality of the cannabis industry presents unique challenges, making traditional retail marketing techniques less effective as mass marketing strategies through widespread channels like television, radio, newspapers, and billboards are impeded by legal restrictions, limiting their reach to a broad audience.

This is where digital marketing innovations step in.

Digital Marketing

The past decade has witnessed remarkable transformations in digital marketing, and supply chain management, opening up invaluable opportunities for the cannabis industry.

Digital marketing prioritizes personalization and targeted advertising, empowering cannabis retailers to tailor messages, recommend products based on preferences, and create personalized shopping experiences through data analytics and customer insights.

Meanwhile, omnichannel retailing stands out as it seamlessly integrates online, mobile, and physical storage platforms, empowering customers to browse and purchase products across multiple channels while optimizing supply chains for enhanced integration.

The shift from mass marketing to individualized engagement not only enhances customer satisfaction and loyalty but also capitalizes on the trend of smartphones becoming an integral part of our lives.

Strategic Partnerships

Innovation extends beyond marketing into the realm of supply chain management.

On-demand delivery and fulfillment are essential for retail success, and cannabis retailers can meet customer expectations for speedy and convenient shipping by implementing innovative methods like same-day or next-day services, and strategic partnerships with third-party logistics providers, ultimately boosting customer satisfaction.

Data-Driven Supply Chain Management

Data-driven supply chain management has revolutionized retail operations. By leveraging predictive analytics, machine learning algorithms, and real-time tracking systems, cannabis businesses can optimize their supply chains.

Accurate demand forecasting, efficient inventory management, and streamlined logistics operations are just some of the advantages that arise from embracing data-driven decision-making.

Learn more about cannabis supply chain management and marketing from the experts at the next Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in Chicago on September 27-28, following a successful gathering in Miami last April. The conference will feature experts in cannabis marketing, supply chain, and logistics, and presents a unique opportunity to find strategic partners and solutions to streamline operations and drive profitability.

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Photo by Heidi Fin on Unsplash. 

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.