Since states began legalizing cannabis, the industry has struggled with cash. Dispensaries are allowed to sell weed, but they are not allowed to use major credit card networks to process cannabis payments.

That's because despite its legalization at the state level, cannabis remains a federally scheduled substance, which prohibits dispensaries from using those U.S. banking networks to process payments.

However, a solution has surfaced that offers an integrated, cash-free payment process that benefits both retailers and consumers. Dutchie and other cannabis eCommerce brands offer cannabis retailers e-commerce and point-of-sale software that helps take online orders, manage inventory, comply with state law and run cash registers.

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Cash is Not Always King

In the beginning, there was cash. Lot of it.

Dispensaries sold cannabis to customers, customers gave them cash. Dispensaries ended up with piles of cash and plenty of problems. But cannabis payment processing solutions use electronic processors to receive and distribute payments from customers’ banks. helping to resolve problems like:

• Account tracking: It can be complicated and challenging to track cash payments in a business. Cannabis payment processing streamlines the process with automated transaction reporting.

• Security risks: Dispensaries have suffered their share of robberies because the bad guys know they have piles of cash. Cannabis payment processing reduces the amount of cash that must be stored on-premises and thus decreases the security risks that dispensaries and their employees face.

• Repeat trips to the bank: To reduce the cash they must keep on-premises, many dispensaries make sure cash is taken to the bank, often several times a day. Cannabis payment processing helps protect the valuable time of dispensary employees who can spend more time serving customers.

• Bill paying hassles: Dispensaries struggle to meet the needs of those utility providers who won't accept cash payments. Instead, dispensaries must find a way to make electronic bill payments even though they do not have digital access to their business capital. Cannabis payment processing offers a solution.

• Customer inconvenience: Dispensary customers are forced to use cash even though cashless payment solutions are more convenient, and that can be frustrating and a hassle. Cannabis payment processing offers customers the convenience of shopping without cash and it offers dispensaries an opportunity to earn more profit because shoppers who use cashless payments tend to spend more on each transaction.

These solutions allow cannabis dispensaries to avoid all of the difficulties associated with running an all-cash business.

Advantages of Integrated Cashless Payments

The introduction of integrated cashless payments offers dispensaries remarkable benefits to business visibility over the original cash-only process. The cashless payment system provides instant reporting to cannabis dispensaries, which ensures a closer, in-depth view of the state of the business at any time. The system can process payments instantly and significantly improve the cash conversion cycle. This benefit gives cannabis retailers the opportunity to invest business capital more thoughtfully and to produce greater profits over time.

Another advantage that integrated cashless payments offer is its value to critical rewards programs for customers. Most retailers already benefit from robust customer loyalty programs, offering them access with the customer's permission to important data that is crucial in marketing. Cannabis dispensaries don't have as many marketing options as other retailers, so it's important for them to have access to as many useful and relevant marketing tools as possible. The integrated cashless payment system allows dispensaries to tap important customer data that can later be used to enhance direct marketing to those customers.

Why Cannabis Dispensaries Should Install Cashless Payment Solutions

Cannabis dispensaries need every advantage they can get at a time when the popularity of weed is soaring. Cannabis customers deserve the same modern retail experience at dispensaries that they have come to expect at other retailers. Cashless payment solutions offer dispensaries and customers a solution to their ongoing cash problem, a way to improve sales volume and reduce security risks that come with operating an all-cash business.

Here are three reasons dispensaries should install cashless payment solutions:

• Reduce Customer Wait Times: When all you have is cash at your business, that can take a toll on the speed of each transaction. Cashless solutions help speed up the process of serving customers, with expected improvement in the number of transactions processed in an hour likely to increase to the retail industry standard of up to 15%.

• Decrease Theft Opportunities: As potential robbery and theft targets, dispensaries struggle with the burden of too much cash at any point during the day. Cashless solutions can go a long way to eliminating the target that exists on these cannabis businesses by reducing the amount of cash held on-premises at any given time. These systems also make life easier on employees and customers.

• Increase Revenues: The facts speak for themselves. Dispensaries that adopt cashless solutions provided by Dutchie experience an average increase of 25% in order value, which results in increased sales volume and revenue. That's because, just like other retailers who have made the transition from cash to cashless, dispensaries see an average increase in basket size per customer. Cashless also makes upwelling and cross-selling much easier because customers are more likely to buy into upsells when they don’t have to reach into their wallets for cash to do so. This also impacts return on investment and leads to increased profitability for dispensaries.

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