by Caroline Maahs, Copywriter at Podium

Become a trailblazer in your industry with a little help from conversational commerce.

Understanding how your customers like to connect can be the key to consumer happiness and repeat business. This article highlights 4 ways that you can modernize your customer journey as a way to improve consumer trust and loyalty.  

If there’s one thing that’s growing faster than cannabis dispensaries, it’s conversational commerce. Today, the modern customer expects convenience, personalization, and ease throughout their shopping experience, and one of the best ways to meet those expectations is by using conversational commerce. 

In this article, you’ll get a deeper look at this new customer support and sales method, as well as how you can take advantage of it to increase your sales.

What is conversational commerce?

Conversational commerce can be implemented by just about any business. It simply refers to the use of messaging apps and voice assistants, such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Amazon Echo, to facilitate the shopping experience—it’s a practice that can turn your company into the preferred brand in the cannabis industry. 

By implementing conversational commerce, you can make the shopping and checkout process more straightforward, resulting in a better customer experience and four times more conversions than before.

So how can it be implemented in the cannabis industry? 

Businesses can use conversational commerce to build a great user experience in many situations. After all, customers already want to use the digital tools they have to make every part of the buyer’s journey easier.

1. Dispensary customers aren’t interested in talking on the phone. 

Dispensary customers prefer to use text or a messaging app to communicate over talking on the phone. It’s faster, easier, and more convenient for someone who’s already using messaging as their preferred method of communication. 

With the use of text messages, voice messages, and smart devices on the rise, it’s crucial to adapt to keep up with changing consumer behavior. Text messages have an open rate of 99%, so implementing a conversational commerce strategy will allow you to convert your target audience at a higher rate. Whether they’re on the go with little attention to spare or at home looking for the most convenient way to shop, as a company that communicates via text, you’ll be their new go-to. 

2. Dispensary customers have a ton of questions before they come in. Here’s the best way to answer them. 

Dispensary customers often have questions about inventory, strains, vape cartridges, and medical policies, and by using conversational commerce, you can answer questions and offer recommendations seamlessly. According to Messina, one of the greatest benefits of conversational commerce is the fact that it offers users “decision support.” In other words, it allows you to guide users toward making a decision based on their specific needs and preferences. 

By answering questions and offering recommendations, your potential customer and patients can have an exact product in mind to purchase before they even walk through the door. This brings them one step closer toward the actual sale while keeping them committed to buying from your brand. 

3. Responsibility in this industry is key. Technology can make being responsible easy. 

The cannabis industry is big on being responsible, so it’s essential that your dispensary has a way to monitor and control how your staff interacts with customers and patients. By using a technology tool, you’re able to consolidate and monitor all of your conversations from Facebook Messenger, texting, your website, and more, all in one inbox. Plus, you can create messaging templates, so your conversations can be standardized to promote maximum consistency and responsibility, and to ensure your store is adhering to state and local regulations. 

4. You can use conversational commerce as a way to provide updates.

Sometimes, conversational commerce isn’t directly tied to your sales funnel. It can also be part of your overall customer service strategy. It creates the customer experience that all your  shoppers and patients want to return to every time they need your products. You can take advantage of messaging platforms and voice assistants to let customers know when an item has restocked, or even just thank them for a visit or purchase. As you continue providing the convenient support that your competitors aren’t, your customers may increase their loyalty toward your dispensary.

Become a trailblazer in your industry.

By implementing modern communication channels, not only can you cultivate brand loyalty, trust, and customer happiness, you can build relationships while creating measurable results too.

Caroline Maahs is a Copywriter at Podium, a privately held technology company headquartered in Lehi, Utah that develops cloud-based software to help businesses modernize customer interactions. Caroline attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison and graduated with a degree in English Literature and a minor in Entrepreneurship. 

Podium is a privately held technology company headquartered in Lehi, Utah that develops cloud-based software to help businesses modernize customer interactions, such as messaging and customer feedback, and improve their online reputations.

Interested in learning how Podium can help your store grow? 

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