Operating a brick-and-mortar retail storefront comes with a lot of moving pieces to manage and execute. Whether you’re fulfilling daily turn or coaching retail staff, there are countless tasks to stay organized and on top of. While there are many exciting advancements being made in online e-commerce sales, in-store merchandising should be top-of-mind for dispensary operators. Automated weed menu boards allow retail operators to build beautiful and accurate merchandising materials that connect live inventory data to the customer experience.

Visual displays and marketing materials serve as much more than itemized inventory lists. Menu boards attract customer attention, establish brand presence, and facilitate busy sales transactions. Spending unnecessary time tweaking manual data entries or editing tedious spreadsheets takes away from precious retail management time. Integrating streamlined automation into your merchandising process allows teams to focus on driving sales and serving customers.

The Underrated Burden Of Spreadsheet Management

Dispensary operators have historically tracked available product batches, pricing updates, and strain menus through spreadsheets. Manually maintaining these lists creates extra work and friction for teams. Whenever a product sells out or a new grower shipment arrives, employees are responsible for manually updating documents, formatting rows and columns, and editing print displays. Error can easily be introduced into spreadsheets which leads to misleading floor prices and lost hours that could be spent helping customers.

Out-of-date product counts create friction for both your staff and your customers. While browsing a menu board, customers may see irrelevant prices or choose an item that has gone out of stock. These errors slow down register lines and create confusion. An automated system should work for your retail operation, not force you to allocate an administrative employee to manage rows and columns.

Connecting Inventory Software To Menu Boards

Online shoppers will browse your website and digital marketing platforms however they please. Within a physical store, buyers engage with organized display boards that allow them to digest information at their own pace. Clean design, easy-to-read fonts, and simplistic layouts provide a straightforward way for customers to learn about your products.

There are endless benefits to building out organized visual displays for your physical storefront. Menu boards encourage customers to browse and understand your product tiers. Well-structured menus will:

• Display your products cleanly and professionally

• Make it easier for customers to find the products they’re looking for

• Keep your branding consistent across all customer touchpoints

• Provide customers with accurate pricing and potency information

Dispensary Menu Templates For Improved Visual Branding

Consistency is key when building out your brand image. No matter if a customer is looking at your printed farmers market menu or scrolling through your digital menu board, your menu template should be easy to read and navigate. Establishing some branding fundamentals will set your business apart and build trust with your customers.

Templating your menu boards allows you to create consistent header boxes, pricing blocks, and designate space for your store logo. Standardizing how your menu information is displayed helps customers quickly understand your product layouts and find what they need.

Dispelling Common Automation Concerns

Store owners and retail managers often have some hesitation when transitioning away from manual workflows and document creation. Here are some of the most common questions we’ve heard regarding cannabis menu automation.

“How do we maintain our custom menu layouts?”

Most automation tools do come prepared with preset template designs. However, you should have full control over customizing menu layouts to fit your brand. Background images, color themes, fonts, and headers can be edited to match your store’s aesthetics. You’re not sacrificing your creative control by adopting cannabis menu automation into your workflow.

“What about our existing display screens? How will the integration process work?”

This is another common concern we hear from prospective clients. The idea of integrating your point-of-sale inventory database with new digital and print products can sound intimidating and complicated. Software should work for you. Professional automation platforms are built to seamlessly integrate into your existing software ecosystem and pull inventory data directly from your point-of-sale system.

“Our inventory turns over pretty quickly. How can we keep menus updated?”

If your retail space sells through products quickly—especially if you carry varying potencies or chem profiles within a given product category—it can be difficult to keep printed lists and screens updated. Automation tools eliminate this problem by connecting your product data directly to display queues.

Addressing High-THC Customer Inquiries

As dispensaries continue to carry a wider variety of products, customers will have more questions about high-strength offerings or unique cannabinoid breakdowns. Many first-time customers can be intimidated by high THC products while experienced buyers may have specific questions about the effects certain cannabinoids provide.

Providing educational material through your merchandising can help customers feel more comfortable when approaching your staff:

• Total cannabinoids: List total active cannabinoids so customers know how strong your products really are.

• Encourage alternatives: Menus can help you guide customers toward lower potency alternatives without clogging up your register.

• Accurate product descriptions: Menu accuracy will help build trust with your customers by providing educational and compliant descriptions.

Automating Merchandising Across Store Locations

Even if you operate a single storefront, maintaining brand consistency can be difficult between paper menus and display boards. When managing multiple locations, inconsistency is even more likely to occur. Not every store manager will have the time nor resources to create their own displays from scratch.

Automation tools allow corporate teams to manage menu templates, pricing updates, and compliance disclaimers across all store locations. Share new menu layouts and badge promotional materials across all of your screens at once.

Instead of relying on messy spreadsheets and inconsistent print displays, consider rolling out cohesive and customizable cannabis menus for your customers. Standardizing how your products are displayed across sales channels will protect your brand’s integrity and establish trust with your customers.

Conclusion

When managing a fast-paced retail environment, it’s critical to have tools that work for you. Leveraging software to automate cannabis menu boards will save your teams time and allow you to place more focus on the customer experience.

Looking to learn more about cannabis menu automation? Visit BudSense for free.

FAQs

Do I have control over which products appear on my screens?

Definitely. With BudSense, you have complete control over which products are featured on your displays. Manually select which items you’d like to show customers or create rules so that only products that meet certain criteria.

How are frequently changing inventories managed on automated screens?

Menus are connected directly to your store’s inventory management software. When a product sells out or your team restocks the shelves, your inventory records are updated so that your display boards always show current count.

I have a very specific color theme and font style I use for my store. Can I match my menu layout to my branding?

Yes! Most automation software will allow you to customize your menu layout to match your store’s brand. Upload your logo, pick your color scheme, and set your fonts to match your desired aesthetics.

How can cannabis menu boards help me educate customers about potency?

Whether you choose to list total cannabinoid percentages or display parsed out THC/A sub levels, menu boards can help your customers understand exactly what they’re buying. Digital screens also allow your staff to quickly guide shoppers toward alternative options that they may feel more comfortable with.

How does automation benefit large-scale operators?

Whether you operate out of two storefronts or twenty, menu automation can save you time during daily operations. Centralized management allows head managers to update menu layouts, pricing, and status badges across all of your locations simultaneously.