In any sales environment, the goal is always to get the customer to purchase more products, increasing revenue for the retailer. The cannabis sales environment is no different.

Upselling is one of the oldest sales strategies used across all sales environments. Upselling isn’t about just tossing out product ideas for what the customer may or may not need. Rather, it’s about maximizing the impact of a purchase by thoughtfully increasing the amount someone is spending in one visit, in a way that is beneficial to them as a customer and won’t lead to buyer’s remorse.

At Grow Flow, we understand that customers may be coming in with a specific goal in mind for their purchase, however, part of customer experience is ensuring that you help them carefully select products that meet their needs while encouraging them to purchase more from your store.

Here are 10 quick tips on how you can use upselling to increase customer experience while also increasing the bottom line for your cannabis retail store.

Create a Sense of Urgency for Certain Deals
People like to be in on something that is a limited time offer that they may not be able to get at a later date. While you never want to put unnecessary pressure on your customer, it is hard to pass up a good deal that they may not ever see again.

Create limited time offers that customers won’t be able to ever see again in your store, showing them that if they don’t buy now, they’ll be missing out on some big cost savings and a chance to have some of the hottest products on the market.

Build Loyalty Through Exclusivity
Everyone likes to feel recognized and valued, and one way to ensure that is through building a Loyalty Program that helps increase the long-term value of your customer. Be creative on what your Loyalty Program entails, whether it’s a percentage off their purchases, or access to members-only discounts that make them add more products to their regular purchase habit.
With Loyalty Programs being a dime a dozen, be creative with what you offer, and how you engage your customer so that their participation in the Loyalty Program actually translates into customer retention.

Use Displays Thoughtfully
It’s amazing what people will purchase when it’s put right in front of their eyes, and using displays in your store in an intentional way could lead to greater purchases by your customers. What is your POS telling you about what products are selling? What mid- to high- range products are proving to satisfy your customer?

Carefully display these items close to check out or in a central display area of your store to ensure it makes its ways into the eyes of the customer, and hopefully into their bag.

Focus on Customer Experience
The modern sales environment goes beyond customer service to encompass customer experience. Customer experience, or CX, refers to the customer's broader journey through an organization, including every interaction between the customer and the business.

As we have mentioned in a previous piece, customer experience includes customer service and utilizing tools such as data and analytics, customer feedback surveys, and loyalty programs to understand ALL aspects of the customer’s full experience with the retail store. What is your store’s approach to cultivating customer experience over simply customer service? Be the brand that people enjoy purchasing from!

Use Your Display Media to Full Advantage
Your display media and digital menus are an excellent way to showcase exciting new products while also spreading awareness and cannabis education. Use your display media to add a personal touch to your store, while featuring products that entice customers to try out new things.

Using photos, videos, and other engaging media ensures that people of all literacy levels are included in the cannabis experience, and are able to receive the important education about products that will ensure a pleasant and safe experience.

Introduce Them to New Methods of Consumption
For some people, they’re set in their ways in how they like to consume cannabis. However, there is such a wave of innovation happening in cannabis that all consumers would be remiss not to try out new things.

Even if you know a customer likes one thing and is pretty stuck in their ways, introduce them to new methods of consumption that provide an alternative to, or replicate the cannabis experience they’re used to. For instance, if someone regularly smokes flower, introduce them to oil or herb vaporizers. If someone is only into edibles, ask them if they’ve considered smoking flower to get a different effect, or vice versa.

Set Sales Targets with Benefits
Enticing people to spend “just a little more” to receive a certain benefit is one of the oldest retail strategies that have been used across industries. Create sales campaigns that invite people to reach a certain sales point that gets them something extra.
For instance, if they spend $75 in your store, they’ll earn points towards store credit on a future purchase, or get a free accessory.

Encourage Purchases Up to the Legal Limit
While purchase limits sound like they’re a mechanism of controlling consumption, one is actually able to purchase quite a bit of product legally in one day.
While some customers may come in for only an eighth at a time, encourage them to consider purchasing a higher quantity that will end up in long-term savings for the customer yet a larger purchase for the store.

Use Holidays for Creative Sales
It’s no secret to the cannabis industry that sales tend to go up around holidays, especially around April 20, or 420.

Use data from your business management and compliance software to analyze what people are buying and what times around the holidays. This will help you maximize the times in which there is a natural influx of store traffic to display some of your highest selling, and higher valued products.

Know Your Customer Through Data
Use your data and insights, as well as the information available in your POS to point out things your customer may like, based on what you know about them, their demographic, and their purchase history. POS data is a gold mine for getting inside your customer’s head, especially if you are able to see a customer’s purchase history through a Loyalty Program.

Customers love when their budtenders can see what they like and recommend purchases that compliment their tastes and buying profile. Use these opportunities to introduce your customer to more premium products that will bring their consumption experience to the next level and will result in a higher-value purchase.

Lean on Your Software
Upselling is an age-old sales tactic, but it has been greatly enhanced by analytics and insights, and the data that we’re now able to collect on sales, products, and customer purchasing habits.

Connect with GrowFlow to discuss how our all-in-one business management and compliance software can help you with your upselling techniques, so to increase the bottom line for your cannabis retail location.