Category: Cannabis Displays and Store Fixtures

For most dispensaries, there is no bigger sales day than April 20 th.

In 2024, 4/20 set sales records for retail dispensaries, with a 7% increase over 2023.

Having plenty of cannabis products on hand, and merchandising those products effectively can help maximize your sales and increase customer loyalty.

Here are some of the top products you should have on display for 4/20.

Flower: Still the Top Cannabis Product

A 2024 report by Flowhub shows that flower was still the #1 product category in 2024, making up 40.7% of total sales.

One of the biggest challenges with displaying premium flower is showcasing selected strains, allowing customers to sniff the terpene aromas, all while maintaining security protocols according to state regulations.

Fortunately, this problem has been solved with the Security Tether Bar™ which satisfies security regulations, and comes with different cannabis display Pods which each feature aroma holes for customers to smell the unique aromas of each strain.

The Canna-Pod_® is our most popular Pod, and each of these feature a magnifying viewer for close inspection, and secure aroma holes, so customers can sniff the complex terpene combinations. The patented Spring Hatch makes managing the aroma holes worry-free, while preserving the freshness of each sample. Note: this is also available on most of our Pods.

Our Puffer Pods_® are another specialized display unit for each stain of flower. Press the air button to send a aromatic whiff of the flower aroma to the customer. Microholes allow the aroma to escape while keeping samples completely secure.

For countertop flower displays, The Wedge™ offers a angled display for highlighted flower strains, all while securely tethered to the counter.

Edibles: Another Major Product Category

With 4/20 falling on Easter in 2025, edibles will see a huge amount of sales. Many customers use edibles for the convenience, but these can be displayed at various places in the dispensary. One way to highlight them is in a display cabinet near the checkout station. The Bud Bar Cabinet™ is a professional display cabinet designed specifically for presenting cannabis products.

Concentrates and Extracts: A Top Customer Choice

Concentrates and extracts are a huge seller for dispensaries on 4/20. There are plenty of ways to merchandise your different concentrates, but these are a couple that dispensary owners find the most useful.

For a way to display multiple extracts at once, the Xtract Elite™ is a professional choice. With optional LED lighted base and security cover, the display is a perfect way to show the extracts you have for sale. A hinged locking door opens from the budtenders side of the case allowing budtenders full control of the "show and smell" experience your customers enjoy before a purchase decision.

If you want to display extracts individually, the Incline XtractPod™ is an ideal solution. The angled display allows customers to see the samples at a glance, and there is a pocket for adding an information card, which makes your product look more professional.

Pre-Rolls: Convenient for the Customer

For displaying pre-rolls at the countertop or in another display area, the Bud Girl J-Tube Display is a fun way to draw customers attention. This comes in either a vintage or modern design for the bud girl.

Merchandise Your Cannabis Products For 4/20 and Beyond

The product line of cannabis Pods for dispensary merchandising from Bud Bar Displays feature many patented features that let customers securely see, smell, and examine your best flower samples. We also have an innovative line of display cabinets and bud displays to make your cannabis products stand out. For more information on any of our products or advice and displays for your dispensary, contact the team at Bud Bar Displays or call us at 916.858.2000.

Spring is an important season in the cannabis industry. If you are running a dispensary, these are some event dates, and considerations for merchandising cannabis products effectively.

Easter

Though Easter is a traditional US holiday, many dispensaries will run Easter specials for new or returning customers. Easter falls on different days each year, though it is always on a Sunday. Easter is based on the lunar calendar, not the Gregorian calendar. The Easter holiday is the Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox each year. This day is not a major holiday for cannabis dispensaries, though it can see a slight bump in sales.

4/20, April 20th

This is the biggest sales day of the year for dispensaries, April 20th. The origins of 4/20 date back to 1971 and San Rafael High with a group of friends called “The Waldos” who would use the phrase “420 Louie” as code for a quest for marijuana. The friends would regularly meet at 4:20 pm to partake in cannabis. This code spread via word of mouth through Grateful Dead concert attendees, the Bay Area, and eventually, the world.

Plan accordingly for 4/20 sales and make sure you have plenty of stock and staff on hands that day.

Memorial Day, Last Monday of May

The last Monday each May is Memorial Day in the US, a day for commemorating fallen military soldiers. This is a federal holiday, making it the first three-day holiday of the spring, and the unofficial beginning of summer activities.

Many customers will visit your dispensary on Memorial Day, this is a fairly busy holiday. While not as big as Independence Day (July 4^th), Green Wednesday, or 4/20, you will still see very robust sales, so send out email and text message marketing in advance and on the day of the holiday. Plan on having plenty of your bestsellers and enough staff to check customers out quickly.

Different Types of Products to Merchandise

There are several types of products that your dispensary might choose to display and promote on the retail floor.

Premium Flower

Displaying cannabis flower in a way that is compliant with local regulations, that allows customers to closely inspect the flower and smell the terpen aromas is a must. We have a patented line of cannabis display Pods design specifically for dispensaries.

The Canna-Pod_® is our most popular Pod, and each of these feature a magnifying viewer for close inspection, and secure aroma holes, so customers can sniff the distinct aromas of each strain.

Our Puffer Pods_® are another specialized display unit for each stain of flower. Press the air button to send a aromatic whiff of the flower aroma to the customer. Microholes allow the aroma to escape while keeping samples completely secure.

The Security Tether Bar™ allows you to display five flower samples in your choice of Puffer Pods_®, Canna-Pods_®, or Puff-X Pods™. Security tethers keep each pod attached to the display bar to keep your dispensary compliant.

You can see our extensive line of cannabis display pods for retail on our website.

Concentrates and Extracts

Extracts and concentrates are a growing product category, and there are many ways you can highlight specific products.

For displaying individual extracts and letting customers smell the aroma, you can use the Incline Puff-X Pod™ to showcase different concentrates.

For showing a selection of concentrates, the Xtract Elite™ uses information pockets, with cover plates, to make your extract’s strain information look clean and professional. The optional LED base produces a beautiful cool white light with virtually no heat to further enhance the display; the base also incorporates a folding stand allowing the display to sit flat or inclined when on display.

If you need to display a wide variety of concentrates, our Dab Bar Cabinet™ holds a mind-blowing 48 different concentrates in 30g Sili'Pods™ with information cards which describe each concentrate to the customer with important details.

Pre-Rolls

As customers move towards the final checkout, they may add some last minute items such as pre-rolls. You can display pre-rolls in tubes in countertop displays like our Tiered Joint Roll Display or Bud Girl J-Tube Display.

Merchandise Your Cannabis Products Like a High-End Store

The product line of cannabis Pods for dispensary merchandising from Bud Bar Displays feature many patented features that let customers securely see, smell, and examine your best flower samples. We also have an innovative line of display cabinets and bud displays to make your cannabis products stand out. For more information on any of our products or advice and displays for your dispensary, contact the team at Bud Bar Displays or call us at 916.858.2000

For many years, cannabis merchandising focused primarily on the THC level in each strain. Strain potency was believed to be the defining characteristic driving buying decisions by consumers. Earlier studies showed that cannabis customers were willing to pay more for high-quality products, but the definition of “premium” cannabis was still nebulous and undefined at that point.

However, a 2022 study by Plumb, Demirel, Sackett, Russo, and Wilson-Poe brought a lot more clarity to what customers were looking for, and how they were making purchasing decisions.

As it turns out, a pleasant aroma was the highest correlating factor in a positive experience for the participants in the study. More than high THC content or amount of THC consumed, aroma and smell are the leading indicators of high-quality cannabis.

What does this mean for you as a dispensary owner? Merchandising displays that allow customers to smell the aroma of each strain flower will lead to a better customer experience, and potentially more sales of higher quality flower.

Shifting Merchandising Focus from THC to Terpenes

Today’s cannabis connoisseur is more sophisticated than they were ten years ago, and they are looking for a robust enjoyable strain when they shop for cannabis.

According to the 2022 study mentioned above, “Pleasant subject aroma (but not terpene expression, THC potency, or THC dose) was positively correlated with pleasant subjective effects… These results suggest that, unlike THC potency, pleasant aroma is predictive of pleasant subjective effects. Similar to other agricultural commodities such as coffee and tea, aroma appears to be a robust indicator of the quality of cannabis inflorescence.”

In other words, if the cannabis flower has an appealing aroma, the customer perceives this strain as a higher quality.

THC is not a factor in whether people perceive a cannabis flower as high quality.

The report states, “Contrary to widely held public opinions, the dose of THC consumed in a single session was not correlated with subjective appeal.” In the study of 276 participants, nearly 45% of all single sessions with 0.25 grams of cannabis.

Potency should not be the only factor in merchandising and promotion of cannabis strains.

Letting customers smell the terpene aromas by using secure cannabis “sniff pods” is one way to utilize aroma as a selling point for your popular strains.

What are Terpenes? And How do They Contribute to Flower Aroma?

Terpenes are naturally occurring compounds that appear in plants and some animals. Functionally, terpenes influence aroma and taste. There are over 200 terpenes in Cannabis sativa (Cannabis), which often appear on the female inflorescence and throughout the cannabis flower.

Terpenoids appear in aromatic plants like cannabis, and are thought to help with protection from predatators, attracting pollinators and other functions.

Although research is still being done on terpenes, they are thought to have synergistic effects on THC, CBD, and other cannabinoids that make up unique psychoactive effects for each cannabis strain.

The aroma of each terpene can run a spectrum from sweet (citrus, tropical, berry) to savory (think onion, garlic, or chemical) with prototypical (earthy, skunky, spicy) landing in the middle of the spectrum.

The terpenes are what give each strain their unique aroma. They also work together with the other compounds in the strain to produce unique psychoactive effects.

Potency Should Not be Only Factor in Sales and Merchandising

Cannabis shoppers want a full sensory experience when they go to purchase flower. Marketing and merchandising your cannabis strains can be a complete educational experience. The goal is to deliver better choices for customers, aligned with their desired outcomes.

For example, your premium cannabis flower displays can feature tethered display pods with a magnifying lens to see the trichomes up close, info card holders with details about each strain, and each pod can have aroma holes so customers can sniff the complex terpenes of each unique strain.

Like a wine connoisseur examines the smells and notes of a fine wine before drinking it, cannabis consumers want to smell the terpene aromas before purchasing.

The Entourage Effect in Cannabis

Terpenes are responsible for more than aromas, they also help with a phenomenon known as the entourage effect.  Psychoactive elements in cannabis like THC interact with terpenes and cannabinoids in that strain in a unique way. The combination of the different compounds produces an experience that can affect each person differently. If you are an experienced cannabis partaker, the aroma of the terpenes and trichomes can give you clues to the overall experience you will have consuming that strain.

Highlighting Aromas Can Help with Sales

Customers who appreciate the different terpene aromas will seek out different strains, including those with lower THC levels. Smaller independent cannabis lines can be featured, encouraging more robust product lines. Customers feel they are discovering small-batch craft cannabis. Your clientele will spread the word your dispensary is known for carrying strains with unique terpene combinations.

Carry a Spectrum of Aromas and Strains at Your Dispensary

Consumers are looking for strains with pleasing aromas, that are rich and full of complexity, intensity, sublimation, and balance. Provide a mechanism for customers to smell to the different strains of cannabis flower so they can have a more satisfying customer experience.

The customer journey is an important part of getting return business and winning a customer for life. Remember that aroma is the number factor in cannabis enthusiasts defining a cannabis strain as “high-quality”.

Find the Ideal Sniff Pods for Highlighting Cannabis Aromas

For over 30 years, the team at Bud Bar Displays has been designing and building retail displays, and we’ve been a leader in innovative design for cannabis retail and dispensaries. We’re always coming up with new ideas that help dispensary owners get the competitive edge and elevate the customer’s experience.

Our patented line of cannabis display pods help you showcase your cannabis strains and sell more product. If you have a question, need a custom-built display, or need help with dispensary product displays, contact our team of retail display professionals or give us a call at (916) 858-2000.

The biggest sales day of the year is April 20^th, or 4/20 but the second half of the year can also be extremely lucrative for dispensaries. The last six months of the calendar year contain several key days and weekends where sales are busy.  Demand for cannabis products will be high on these key holidays and weekends, and planning accordingly can help your marketing, staffing, and merchandising efforts.

Fourth of July Weekend

The 4^th lands on different days of the week each year, but since it’s a federal holiday many people have this day off. This is the height of the summer, and many people relax and enjoy premium flower, prerolls, or concentrates. Displaying flower in one of our securely tethered and sealed Pods allows customers to smell the aroma and inspect the appearance of the flower before purchasing.

July 10th: Oils and Concentrates Day

A popular day for purchasing concentrates and dab oils is July 10, or 7/10. The date 7/10 became known as “OIL” Day, because when you turn the numbers upside down, it looks like the word oil. This is a reference to butane hash oil, or dab oil, which is a cannabis-derived product which contains THC. Most cannabis enthusiasts recognize 7/10 as a day to enjoy oils, concentrates, resin, dabs, shatter and other non-flower cannabis products.

Displaying concentrate and extract samples in one of our professional extract trays is a great way to merchandise your products. The Puff-X Pod™ also allows customers to smell the terpene aromas of concentrates on display.

Labor Day Weekend: First Monday in September

At the very end of summer is the three-day Labor Day weekend. Another federal holiday, Labor Day is part of one of the biggest weekends of the year for dispensaries. Many cannabis shops offer special deals for this day, using promotional codes and coupons to gain new customers.

As you plan for the heavy customer traffic on this holiday weekend, consider what products you will highlight in your main display cases and dispensary displays.

October 5^th: Honoring Victims of Prohibition Day

Though this is not the biggest sales day of the autumn, the Victims of Prohibition Day is a bit of an internal holiday in the cannabis world. This day commemorates the first people arrested after the passage of the Marijuana Tax Stamp Act in October of 1937, which effectively outlawed cannabis. On October 5th, 1937, the FBI and the Denver police raided the Lexington Hotel and arrested Samuel R. Caldwell and Moses Baca. Caldwell and Bacca are recognized as the first citizens convicted of selling and possessing cannabis. Both men served the entirety of their sentences, with Caldwell dying shortly after his release from four years of hard labor.

On this day, you can run sales on select strains of cannabis flower and display premium cannabis nugs on your sales floor.

November 6^th: Legalization Day

This holiday is a bit of a big deal, as the entire legalized cannabis industry is built on the foundation of the landmark decisions passed on November 6^th, 2012. On that day, both Washington and Colorado passed recreational cannabis laws, Since then, 44 states have made cannabis or CBD oil legal for medicinal or recreational use. Only six states remain where cannabis is fully illegal and criminalized, and 24 states have legalized recreational cannabis use.

Many dispensaries have a busy sales day and run specials on Legalization Day, but the second biggest sales day of the year is also in November.

Green Wednesday: The Day Before Thanksgiving

Much like Black Friday is the biggest day of the year for retail sales, Green Wednesday is the second biggest day of the year for cannabis sales. The origins of Green Wednesday, which is the day before Thanksgiving, are thought to begin in 2017. The popular story is that a cannabis delivery driver came up with the concept of a sales day that parallels the retail shopping holiday that starts on the Friday after Thanksgiving (Black Friday) and runs through the following Monday (Cyber Monday).

This day typically is one of the busiest days of the year for cannabis sales, especially for deliveries. Be sure to run email marketing, text marketing, and social marketing campaigns leading into this major cannabis holiday. Make sure your dispensary is fully staffed, as many customers are sure to show up at your dispensary.

Professional Dispensary Displays to Help You Sell More Product

For more than 25 years, Bud Bar Displays has been designing award-winning retail displays and store fixtures. Our team of specialists was assembled with one goal in mind – to help cannabis dispensaries display products in a professional manner and increase their overall revenue. Dispensaries around the world have used our line of display cases, store fixtures, and product displays to highlight their product lines.

If you need fixtures and displays for your dispensary, we can help you find the perfect way to highlight and display your cannabis products.

If you have a question, need a custom-built display, or need help with dispensary product displays, contact our team of retail display professionals or give us a call at (916) 858-2000.

Most people are familiar with 4/20 as a cannabis holiday, but July 10, or 7/10, is also a popular cannabis holiday that celebrates concentrates and dab oil.

The date 7/10 became known as “OIL” Day, because when you turn the numbers upside down, it looks like the word oil. This is a reference to butane hash oil, or dab oil, which is a cannabis-derived product which contains THC.

Most cannabis enthusiasts recognize 7/10 as a day to enjoy oils, concentrates, resin, dabs, shatter and other non-flower cannabis products.

What is 7/10 National Dab Day?

National Oil Day, or National Dab Day, is a day devoted to dabbing. Most dabbers will enjoy some for of cannabis oil, resin, wax, or shatter on this day. Dabs are the concentrated cannabis product, which are vaporized on a heated “nail” of the dab rig and inhaled to feel the effects.

Cannabis concentrates are more potent than flower, with many concentrates reaching 80% THC, compared to 18 to 20% THC in cannabis flower.

Some concentrates are designed to be vaporized through a vape pen. However you choose to enjoy concentrates and oils, July 10th is the day to celebrate cannabis extracts and concentrates.

What is Dabbing?

Dabbing the term used to describe the consumption of vaporized cannabis concentrates. Dabs are usually vaporized using a heated nail on a dab rig or a vaporizer dab pen. The dab oil or concentrate is turned into a vapor which is inhaled. One of the earliest types of concentrates was butane hash oil (BHO) or “oil” which is what the 7/10 holiday is named after.

Dab oil is made by extracting compounds, terpenes, and cannabinoids from the cannabis flower to create a potent concentrate. Dabs are called by many names, like shatter, wax, crumble, rosin, and sauce. Each type is categorized by the method of extraction, and the consistency of the concentrate.

What is the History Behind National Dab Day?

The origins of 710 trace back to about 2011. The rapper Taskrok coined the term while talking with friends in Tiny Chat, while thinking of another cannabis holiday to add to 4/20. He was also heavily involved with an event called the Secret Cup at the time, which was a traveling road show centered around butane hash oil. Taskrok also had an influential album called The Movement around this time, where most of the songs were talking about dabbing hash oil. Today, Taskrok is the owner of a company that sells high-quality titanium dab nails.

Around 2013, the LA Weekly reported on 710, and the day began to grow in popularity each subsequent year. Today, cannabis enthusiasts around the world celebrate 710 by enjoying their favorite concentrates, dabs, and extracts.

Today, most dispensaries run specials for 710, and it is one of the biggest sales days of the year.

Merchandising Displays for Oils and Concentrates

The team behind Bud Bar Displays has been designing and building retail displays for over 30 years. For over a dozen years, we’ve been using that expertise to create store fixtures and displays for dispensaries across the country and around the world. We’re always looking for ways to help our customers like you, dispensary owners looking for a competitive edge.

We make an entire product line dedicated to displaying extracts and concentrates in a professional manner.

If you have a question, need a custom-built display, or need help with dispensary product displays, contact our team of retail display professionals or give us a call at (916) 858-2000.

Conditions have never been better for dispensaries offering recreational cannabis products. These include a range of products including flower, concentrates, edibles, topicals, and pre-rolls.

The first legalized recreational cannabis was sold in licensed dispensaries in Washington and Colorado beginning in 2014. Since then, an increasing number of states have legalized recreational cannabis through ballot initiatives and legislative bills for adults 21 and older.

Cannabis is fully legal for recreational use in the following US states and territories:

Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland (July 1, 2023), Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington as well as the District of Columbia, Guam, Marianas Islands, and Virgin Islands.

With more states legalizing recreational cannabis each year, dispensaries should study how to effectively set up displays for recreational cannabis-based products. This guide will give you some ideas and best practices for merchandising your products and increasing sales per customer.

Recreational Cannabis Dispensaries are Retail Shops

Dispensaries in the US at first only sold medical marijuana, and as many states legalized cannabis, dispensaries in those states evolved. Recreational cannabis shops, at their root, follow the same principles of marketing and merchandising that traditional retail shops follow. Routines and practiced skillsets such as customer service, bookkeeping, and inventory management will help you succeed.

But merchandising is how you will increase the average customer checkout, and boost sales. Here are some best practices for displaying recreational cannabis products.

Identify Which Products are Popular with Your Target Market

Take note of what your customer base is interested in purchasing. If possible, take notes on why people buy certain products. Does your clientele prefer cannabis flower, concentrates, or edibles? Be sure to display these in prominent locations on your sales floor. Are pre-rolls or vaporizers popular? Smaller items can be displayed at the checkout counter, or at strategic locations throughout the dispensary. Are certain brands or product types in demand? By directing attention to these displays using display cases, lighting, and professional signage, you can help drive more impulse sales of these items.

Group Similar Products Together

Consumers who come to your dispensary my use different products for different needs. By arranging your products in logical clusters, it will help customers find the items they need quickly, making their customer experience pleasant.

A display area where customers can sniff the terpene aromas of different flower strains might be in one area. Tinctures may be in a different section. CBD products should probably have their own display area. Edibles and cannabis-based drinks can be in a separate merchandising area.

Match Your Displays to the Experience You Want to Create

Some products are higher-end, and merchandising them appropriately will help accentuate that fact. Displays made from metal, wood, glass, or high-quality acrylic give customers a different impression than displays made from more disposable materials.

For lower-priced products, you may choose to keep those behind the counter, where budtenders can suggest them to customers as needed.

Lighted signage, LED lighting, and accent lighting will help focus attention on selected product displays on the sales floor.

Keep Product Information Online Up to Date

Consumers still frequent physical stores. In some municipalities, online ordering and delivery may be an option. But many people will still show up in person to buy cannabis products from your dispensary. Keeping your website up to date will still be important, even if most of your revenue comes from in-store customers.

A 2016 study by Euclid Analytics showed 83 percent of customers use their smartphone as part of the in-store shopping experience. These are relevant actions that these customers completed on their smartphones while shopping in a retail store.

• Comparing prices
• Looking for email promotions and coupons
• Taking photos of products for future reference
• Read online reviews of products
• Go to website of the specific retailer

These are the things that these same customers wanted to do on their smartphones while shopping in a retail store:

• Find store’s best deals and promotions
• Quickly access the loyalty program information for that store
• Display inventory for products in that store
• Get a more personalized experience based on their shopping history and preferences
• Request customer service from a store employee

Dispensaries should also have an up-to-date menu on their website, as well as easy to find loyalty program information.

In the years since this study was first conducted, smartphones and digital access have become even more ingrained in our daily routines. By having all the available information on your website, and providing this info easily, customers will be happier with the shopping experience at your dispensary.

Do Not Overcrowd the Sales Floor

Have you ever gone into a discount store and the sales floor is jam-packed with displays? Now compare that with high-end luxury stores that you’ve shopped at. Ever notice that the luxury stores tend to have a lot of space between displays? This isn’t by accident.

Having adequate spacing in your dispensary sales floor, and avoiding overstuffing the retail floor with superfluous displays, creates a different feel and general impression.

Stores that thoughtfully design a customer experience that feels and looks more like a luxury retail experience leave customers with that impression. By contrast, dispensaries that emulate the overcrowded displays of some retail stores leave the customer feeling like they shopped at a cheap store with claustrophobic displays. Be intentional about how you display products in your recreational dispensary.

Focus on Customer Education

Most dispensaries have a waiting room that leads to the main dispensary sales floor. This waiting area can include digital screens containing product information, printed materials, or kiosks to educate customers on the different cannabis-based products. Remember, that many states are new to legalizing recreational cannabis, and some customers will not be familiar with the different products and how they are most useful.

Educational information can also be featured on your dispensary website and in your email newsletter. The budtenders should also be well-trained in the characteristics and benefits of each cannabis product. They can help answer any questions customers might have.

Digital displays can also be used on the sales floor as part of product displays to show detailed product information and help educate customers.

Use Customer Loyalty Programs

Some cities can be very competitive for recreational cannabis sales. It is crucial your dispensary uses loyalty programs to encourage repeat business. Even when sales are peaking, promotions that reward repeat customers will help ensure repeat sales from your most loyal customers.

Dispensary Displays and Fixture Experts

For more than 25 years, Bud Bar Displays has been helping dispensary owners with innovative product displays. Our product line of dispensary cabinets, cannabis display pods, concentrate displays, and other dispensary displays are used in dispensaries worldwide.

Our award-winning team is ready to help you find the perfect configuration of retail cannabis displays for your shop. You can order online directly from our e-commerce store, reach out via email, or call us directly at (916) 858-2000.

Global cannabis sales reached 35 billion dollars in 2022, an increase of 22% over 2021 sales. Overall, global cannabis sales are projected to reach 61 billion dollars by 2026.

Marijuana products are gaining more popular acceptance in the United States with 19 states, Guam, and Washington DC legalizing recreational use, with 38 states in all approving cannabis for medical use.

With a growing market and changing public sentiment about cannabis-derived products, dispensaries should know exactly what trends are happening as we head into 2023.

Below, we look at the up-to-date trends in cannabis marketing and merchandising in medicinal and recreational dispensaries.

Concentrates Rising in Popularity

A 2020 report by Fortune Business Insights shows concentrates are about 45+% of the cannabis product market, with flower and other categories making up the remaining 55%. Concentrates are a category that includes CO2 oil, butane hash oil, shatter, wax, live resin, budder, kief, ice water hash, and rosin. A 2021 report by Headset.io showed concentrate sales grew by 102% in 2021 in the Canadian market.

Concentrates are easily accessible by consumers new to cannabis, which makes this fast-growing category important for dispensary merchandising.

Cannabis Beverage Sales Increasing

The last few years have been innovative for a newer product category, canna-beverages. These low-dose edibles are beverages that contain THC, and are growing in popularity in the US and Canada.

According to a report by Headset.io, cannabis infused beverages saw a 23% increase in consumption in the US and a 60% increase in Canada in 2021 vs the previous year.

This trend seems primed to continue robust growth in 2023.

Lighting Plays Important Part in Dispensary Merchandising

Cannabis dispensaries are essentially retail experiences, and consumers expect to see similar aesthetics. Store lighting, outdoor lighting, and lighting on the sales floor helps create an ambience of safety, security, and confidence in consumers. LED lighting used on display cases and product displays helps illuminate products and generate customer interest.

In many dispensaries, bud flower is displayed in secure pods that allow customers to examine the samples. LED lighting can be used to call attention to individual flower strains or groups of flower samples. Lighting can also be used to accentuate concentrates, resin, and shatter in secure display pods.

Accent lighting throughout the store helps draw attention to specific products or displays. Track lighting, recessed lighting, and ambient lighting is a large part of the store aesthetics and overall experience.

Women are a Larger Part of Cannabis Market

Cannabis is increasingly used by women, and this demographic is a steadily growing part of the market.

A 2021 report by Headset showed the number of women cannabis customers increased by 55% between 2020 and 2021. The number of male customers in the same period grew by 49%.

Additionally, a 2022 report by Eaze revealed that women made up 48% of all new cannabis customers in 2021, with men making up 52% of new customers. For an idea of how this number has increased, as recently as 2018, the number of new male customers to female customers for cannabis was 62% to 38%. This means new female customers have grown significantly over the past five years.

Cannabis is Increasingly Accepted for Pain Management

Recently, a poll of 1,207 respondents found that many people see cannabis as helpful for pain management, especially if they have used cannabis previously. A 2021 SurveyMonkey poll found that cannabis use is seen as effective for pain management by 82% of people who have recently used marijuana.

49% of all respondents found cannabis somewhat or very effective for pain relief, with an almost identical split of male and female respondents answering positively.

Many new customers may be coming to dispensaries to try products for medicinal effects.

CBD Products Accepted by Mainstream

CBD products are accepted by the majority of the general public in the US, with one in seven adults using CBD. A 2019 Gallup poll showed 14% of all US adults use CBD, with a whopping 20% of people aged 18-29 using CBD.

Why do people use CBD? The top three reasons are for non-specific pain (40%), anxiety (20%), and to help them sleep (11%).

Having professional CBD displays will help your dispensary sell CBD products, which are more popular than ever before.

Green Wednesday is a New Cannabis Sales Holiday

Falling on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Green Wednesday has been one of the top sales days in the cannabis industry for the past few years. Along with April 20^th, this sales holiday was thought to have been named by a cannabis delivery company in 2016, when they noticed a huge sales jump on this day. Traditional retail stores have Black Friday, cannabis dispensaries have Green Wednesday. Be sure to add this day to your calendar of sales events throughout the year.

We Help Dispensaries Merchandise Products Effectively

For more than 25 years, Bud Bar Displays has been designing award-winning retail displays and store fixtures. Our team of specialists was assembled with one goal in mind – to help cannabis dispensaries display products in a professional manner and increase their overall revenue. Dispensaries around the world have used our line of display cases, store fixtures, and product displays to highlight their product lines.

If you need fixtures and displays for your dispensary, we can help you determine exactly how to design a memorable customer experience.

If you need help with choosing the right product displays for your dispensary, contact the team at Bud Bar Displays, or call us at (916) 858-2000.

Cannabis use for medicinal and recreational purposes has gone mainstream in states and territories where it has been legalized. A recent study by the Washington Post showed that over 55 million people in the US use marijuana on a regular basis. Some countries are also legalizing cannabis for medical and recreational use.

With the acceptance of cannabis trending, more dispensaries are opening, and the customer experience is expected to match that of a traditional retail store. The current wave of dispensaries are professional, immersive, retail experiences that cultivate return clients.

Below, we look at some of the most important store fixtures that a cannabis dispensary should have.

1. Open Shelving

Some products may be able to be displayed on open, tiered shelving on the sales floor. Check with your state or local regulations for compliance criteria, including product security. Open shelving displays allow customers to inspect products at their own pace, with sales floor budtenders floating over to offer customer assistance.

2. Display Counters on the Sales Floor

Most dispensaries will use sales floor displays to display cannabis samples in securely tethered cannabis pods. This is the most elegant solution for displaying strains so customers can smell the terpene aromas and examine the flower through a magnifying lens. Counter displays can hold many strains, allowing multiple customers to inspect the cannabis flower. Budtenders can also use these (usually flat) counters as a consultation area. Some dispensaries have budtenders use a tablet to track ongoing customer orders, adding those to a virtual cart for checkout at a central point-of-sale (POS).

3. Cannabis Display Cases

Some dispensaries will have a more open floor plan, with some display counters, and cannabis display cases positioned near the point-of-sale area. Ideally, your bud display cases will highlight some of your best products and create customer interest. Usually, these cannabis product display cabinets have multi-level shelving, are made with transparent glass, and have LED lighting to illuminate the products. By showing off cannabis, CBD, dab, and extract products near the sales counter, customers will always pass these products, giving budtenders an opportunity to sell these products.

4. Horizontal Shelving and Displays

Making use of available space, guiding customers to specific products, and displaying products in an appealing manner can help you boost sales. Floor stands that showcase products at strategic spots in your dispensary are a way to highlight popular products. Wall shelving can draw attention to cannabis and CBD products at strategic points on the sales floor. Behind-the-counter displays or slatwall display panels can help show customers more products without cluttering the sales floor.

Selected Cannabis Display Cases

Need Expert Advice on Dispensary Fixtures?

The team behind Bud Bar Displays has been designing and building retail displays for over 30 years. For over a dozen years, we’ve been using that expertise to create store fixtures and displays for dispensaries across the country and around the world. We’re always looking for ways to help our customers like you, dispensary owners looking for a competitive edge.

If you have a question, need a custom-built display, or need help with dispensary product displays, contact our team of retail display professionals or give us a call at (916) 858-2000.

The CBD market is predicted to grow from $9.86 billion in 2021 to $136.64 billion in 2029, according to a 2022 report by MicroSmallCap.

Market segment that are driving this growth are pain relief, skincare, and other medicinal uses.

Unlike other cannabis products that produce a high, CBD products can be sold in regular retail stores in some states and regions. It is still early days in the projected gold rush for CBD products.

Because the competition for CBD retail sales is wider than for other cannabis products, the merchandising for CBD must be top-notch, and help establish customer buying patterns for dispensary stakeholders.

What is CBD?

Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of 113 known cannabinoids in cannabis. Cannabinoids are compounds that can interact with the biological system known as the endocannabinoid system (ECS). These are receptors mainly in the brain and nervous system, but also in other organs and the immune system. Another well-known cannabinoid is Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the psychoactive agent in cannabis. Much progress has been made since the 1990s in studying the effects of cannabinoids on the human body, but they have been shown to have various effects on appetite, stress response, metabolism and energy, anxiety, analgesia, sleep cycles, and the autonomic nervous system.

CBD is an essential component of medicinal marijuana, and preliminary studies suggest that CBD may counteract some of the psychoactive effects of THC.

Cannabidiol oil may be used medicinally to alleviate stress, reduce pain, reduce some cancer-related symptoms, reduce muscle spasticity from multiple sclerosis, help some neurological disorders, and reduce symptoms of certain mental illnesses.

CBD does not make people “high”. Nearly all the psychotropic effects from marijuana come from THC.

Though the legal status of CBD has been in flux for many years, CBD oil is obtainable all through the US. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) relaxed regulations on clinical trials for CBD in 2015, and the 2018 Farm Bill which legalized hemp made it virtually impossible to outright make CBD illegal in the US.

Merchandising CBD in Retail Environments and Dispensaries

CBD displays and merchandising is a critical part of raising awareness of these products in a retail setting and increasing sales to targeted customers. Below, we go over some best practices and things to consider when marketing CBD on your sales floor.

Educating Customers

With cannabis and CBD products legalized for medicinal use in many states and territories, new customers will require education about which products can benefit them most. Using multimedia displays that leverage interactive content can help impart information to customers. Product information can also be embedded in store displays to show CBD levels and additional data on cannabidiol products.

Lead Customers to Selected Products

Designing a dispensary layout to lead customers down a specific path to highlighted products is another strategy used in retail store design. Place your best-selling products in this customer path to increase sales on high-margin or popular items.

Most customers in the US and Europe turn right when they enter a store entrance. Selected products can be displayed along this path using table displays, product display cases, wall displays, and countertop displays.

Use Graphics Tastefully

Eye-catching graphics and product displays can be used to draw attention to specific CBD products. Be sure to consider what effect you are aiming for. Loud colors and gawdy graphics can send the wrong message. Most dispensaries use subtle graphics and professional displays to divert customer attention in a specific direction. Creating an environment that feels safe, professional, and luxurious is always a good strategy in cannabis and CBD retail.

Establish Trust & Credibility

Cannabis-derived products had a negative stigma in popular opinion for many decades. Although medicinal marijuana, and more recently, CBD products have extensive clinical research to back up the prescribed benefits, some newer customers may still be skeptical. It is crucial to establish empirical proof of credibility with these fledgling CBD customers.

One method of establishing trust is having transparency about the source, ingredients, testing methodology, production, and quality control of each CBD product. Budtenders must be the first to be educated on each of these products, so they can answer customer questions confidently.

Information may also be displayed on the packaging or incorporated into the display itself. Printed brochures or digital presentations may also be used to explain the benefits, alleviate concerns, and answer questions about CBD products.

Countertop Displays Can Be Useful

As customers approach the checkout station, they may see countertop displays at eye level, displaying selected products. This is a chance to promote specific CBD products to customers, encouraging POS impulse buys.

Professional Display Cases

Dispensaries that display products at a fixed budtender station, or a fixed point-of-sale register should have exquisite display cases for CBD and cannabis products.

Customers can see a variety of products in a well-lit case, and have the ability to select from a set of well-informed choices. This is an opportunity for budtenders to answer any questions, and help customers choose the best CBD products for their applicable needs.

Need Personalized Help with Your CBD Displays?

Designing a customer experience for your dispensary is an important task. If you need help finding the perfect cannabis, CBD, and extract display cases and fixtures, Bud Bar Displays is here to help. For 35+ years, our leadership team has been designing and building retail displays for some of the most memorable stores and retail events. If you want to improve your dispensary merchandising, Bud Bar Displays has a complete product line to help you market your products more effectively. Our online store features a line of bud cabinets, CBD displays, cannabis sniff jars, and product displays.

Don’t see what you need? Our design team can help you create custom retail displays for your dispensary. Contact us if you have any questions, or give us a call at 916.858.2000.

The cannabis industry is growing at a steady pace, as more states and territories have legalized cannabis for either medicinal or recreational use. 38 states in all have legalized marijuana use in some capacity, including 19 states and Washington DC fully legalizing it for recreational use.

With the competition for dispensaries growing in every local market, the ability to merchandise cannabis products effectively can be a differentiator.

We will look at some ways in which you can differentiate your dispensary through effective use of aesthetics and retail merchandising.

Keep the Sales Floor Uncluttered

There’s a reason that upscale retail stores keep their entryways tidy and uncluttered and have a sense of order to their displays. These stores also tend to have a specific selection of items on display for sales. Higher-end retail stores emphasize having ample room to browse, and do not display every item they have available for sale. Compare this to clearance stores that tend to crowd the sales floor with an abundance of displays. While displaying everything on your sales floor may seem like a good idea, the science says that limiting the number of product choices can lead to a more effective sales process.

Studies on retail shoppers have shown that a limited number of choices vs many choices leads to more sales. Cannabis customers are like any other retail shoppers, they can be overwhelmed by too many choices.

The effective way to set up displays is to draw customer focus to your best-performing or most popular items and avoid overcrowding the sales floor with extraneous displays.

Use the “Right Turn” Preference to Your Advantage

Several studies have shown that shoppers turn right more often than they turn left in a retail store. Perhaps this has to do with most people being right-handed vs left-handed, maybe it’s an unexplainable cultural preference. But this can work in your favor when designing the layout of your dispensary.

By placing featured products along the right-hand path and other strategic locations, running counterclockwise from the entrance, you can encourage sales of products you wish to promote. Be sure to add some product education displays along this well-travelled customer path.

Use Different Levels to Display Products

Every dispensary has a certain amount of floor space with which to display products. For most dispensaries, utilizing the available space strategically can be the key to increasing average order size. Placing product displays at varying levels and using horizontal and vertical displays can be an effective merchandising strategy.

Wall displays make use of the perimeter of the sales floor, highlighting products, and drawing customer’s attention. Waist level table displays allow shoppers to examine cannabis samples attached to securely tethered displays. Tall vertical display cases can catch customer’s attention from across the room. Small countertop display cases can be used to upsell at the cash register. Products can also be displayed in eye-catching cannabis display cases, or on the wall behind the counter. The key is to strategically use the space you have available to highlight products that customers want to buy.

Organize Product Displays with Intention

Another way to reduce cognitive load for customers is to arrange products by category in your dispensary. Staying organized makes it easier for customers to find the product they need.

Cannabis flower may be shown in a central table display, using locking ring cannabis pods to keep products compliant with local regulations. This will allow your clientele to sniff the terpene aroma of the flower at their leisure. CBD products may have their own area. Concentrates and extracts can be displayed in another area.

Remember to keep similar products grouped together, but keep the displays uncluttered, so customers are not overwhelmed by too many choices. Create captivating and engaging displays that grab the attention of dispensary shoppers.

Stimulate the Customer’s Senses

Cannabis customers are discerning, and if they can, will want an opportunity to see, smell, and examine the different flower samples that are available to buy. Most modern dispensaries have a display system that uses securely sealed “sniff pods” in order to smell the terpenes of each flower. Smelling the aroma of each flower will give them a good idea of what that strain is like.

Examining the intricate details of each flower through a built-in magnifying lens allows shoppers to see what the product looks like up close. By stimulating the senses of the customer with the cannabis flower strains, they will be more inclined to buy. Professional displays may show strain information using a placard, so customers can make a good decision.

Inspecting samples of cannabis is part of the buyer’s overall customer experience.

Use Lighting to Highlight Products

A secret that many experienced retail merchandisers understand is good lighting will make products look more appealing. Dispensary products are no exception. Overhead lighting is often not enough to create a professional effect. Shelf lighting or built-in LED lighting can make any bud display case or CBD display case look even better. Behind the counter displays and countertop product displays can also look remarkable with the proper lighting.

Don’t Forget About Holidays

Almost all retail stores have special displays and merchandising for important holidays. In the cannabis world, 4/20 is a huge cannabis day, as is 7/10. But, what about other holidays? Some holidays lend themselves naturally to cannabis sales and promotions, such as New Year’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, or Christmas. Some holidays that are usually big three-day weekends are good for promotions as well, like Labor Day, Memorial Day, or Independence Day. These are perfect occasions to change your displays and merchandising. It’s important to note, keep the displays professional, and don’t go overboard on the cheesiness. Complementing your products with seasonal décor and increasing sales is the goal.

Ready to Level Up Your Retail Merchandising?

If you are looking to radically improve your cannabis displays and dispensary merchandising, Bud Bar Displays has a complete product line to help you market your products more effectively. Check out our cannabis display pods (sometimes known as “sniff jars”) and concentrate displays. Our online store also features a line of bud cabinets, CBD displays, and product displays.

Don’t see what you need? Our design team has been creating custom retail displays for over 35 years. We can create displays that are made custom for your dispensary. Contact us if you have any questions, or give us a call at 916.858.2000.

The cannabis industry is growing rapidly, with 37 states and the District of Columbia legalizing cannabis products for medical use. Nineteen states, two territories, and Washington DC have also legalized recreational use of cannabis. Several other countries have legalized medical and/or recreational use of cannabis.

With awareness and acceptance spreading, competition is also strong. Using branding effectively is a way that dispensaries can stand out from the competition.

Focus on Your Target Audience

Why do you need a target audience? Different consumers have different affinities for different brands. Understanding how your customer base thinks, and what motivates them will help your brand “speak their language”. For example, a suburban mom and a hip 20-something young adult will have different tastes, and different types of marketing will appeal to each of them differently. By creating target personas (customer avatars), you can craft messaging, imagery, and store décor that makes your customers feel comfortable.

These are some of the things that you should consider when creating personas for your target customers.

• What is their age? Education level? Income bracket?
• What are their life experiences? What motivates them?
• Where do they live? What is their neighborhood like?
• Who are they, and what is bringing them to a dispensary? What problem are they trying to solve?
• What do they expect in a customer experience? If they walked into your dispensary, would they be satisfied with the experience? Would they be likely to become repeat customers?

Remember that your brand is encompassed by not just your logo, but also by your other marketing materials, your social media, email marketing, store layout and ambience, and customer experience as they interact with staff.

What Is Your Dispensary’s Unique Value Proposition

?

In simpler terms, what differentiates you from other dispensaries in your area? Perhaps you have extra staff for a more personalized customer experience. Perhaps you have a wide selection of concentrates and extracts. Maybe you offer delivery or the ability to order ahead online.

Highlighting what makes your dispensary unique will help you create messaging and merchandising that highlights these characteristics.

Using Branding in Your Merchandising

Your logo and identity materials are also a part of your branding. Your logo should represent the overall experience of your dispensary, act as a symbol that unifies your marketing efforts, and connect with your customers.

Placing your logo on your product displays and marketing materials will help remind your customers of your dispensary, and create a more memorable customer experience. Note: Bud Bar Displays can add your dispensary logo to all of our cannabis sniff jars and display pods.

Customer Education Plays a Huge Role

Cannabis is still a new industry, though it is far more accepted now than it was thirty years ago, there is still a large need for customer education.

Your dispensary staff has institutional expert knowledge about cannabis and cannabis-derived products. Use your marketing channels to educate customers on cannabis uses, regulations, and innovations. It’s important to fit the content to each channel you utilize. Email marketing, TikTok videos, YouTube, Instagram, and blog content are each consumed in different ways. Creating specialized educational cannabis content for each platform can help you reach customers in a format that they expect to find.

Need Help With Dispensary Product Displays?

For 25+ years, Bud Bar Displays has been designing award-winning retail displays and store fixtures. Our current team of retail display specialists design and build product displays for cannabis dispensaries. Check our product line of display cases, store fixtures, and product displays to highlight their cannabis and CBD product lines.

Whether your need displays for a dispensary large or small, we can help you determine exactly how to design a memorable customer experience.

If you need help with choosing the right product displays for your dispensary, contact the team at Bud Bar Displays, or call us at (916) 858-2000.

The cannabis industry faces unique marketing challenges.

Because cannabis is legalized for recreational use in some states and regions, legal for medical use in other states, and restricted entirely in yet others. Because of these varied regulations, many social media and advertising platforms impose restrictions on how cannabis products can be marketed.

This means dispensaries must use creative marketing strategies to reach customers and generate business.

The list below looks at some of the most effective tactics and channels for marketing your dispensary and it’s products.

1. Dynamic Web Presence and Online Profiles

When customers come to your website, that is your best opportunity to tell them why they should visit your dispensary. Designing a professional website, that is mobile friendly, easy to navigate, allows them to learn more about your products is crucial to your long-term success.

You should also leverage third-party profiles from cannabis-related sites like Weedmaps and Leafly, and local lead generation sites like Yelp, Yellow Pages also play a critical role. Make sure all the touchpoints of your brand show the professionalism of your brand online.

.2 Customer Loyalty Programs

Dispensaries face some limitations on how they can motivate new customers to become repeat shoppers. Creating systems to engage customers that will bring them back to your retail cannabis store is essential for growth of Customer Lifetime Value (CLV).

Loyalty programs incentivize customers to become repeat buyers. Some forms of loyalty programs include:

• Giving customers points with each purchase that accumulate towards free or discounted products.
• Discount cards that kick in after so many purchases.
• Membership cards that give customers access to special promotions and sales.

The staff, and especially the cashiers, should be trained to recommend signing up for a card if you institute a customer loyalty program.

3. In-Store Merchandising

The displays and merchandising in your dispensary are part of the overall sales plan for your business. Consider the layout of your dispensary sales floor, and what product displays your customers will walk by. Your customers may want to sniff the aroma of the flower terpenes before they buy.

Customer education is also a big part of making sales. Product displays that have strain information or interactive displays with digital content can help do some of the pre-sales work and prepare customers for their purchases.

4. Online Ordering and/or Delivery Menus

Many customers want the convenience of either getting their orders delivered, or pre-ordering online, and picking up their orders at your dispensary. Depending on local regulations in your area, these options may be available to you. Many dispensaries have their online menu on their website. If customers are able to order online, it saves them time, and allows you to collect their email and phone number for text or email marketing campaigns.

5. Text Message Marketing

If customers opt in for text message marketing, they have access to daily or weekly specials that you advertise directly to their phone. According to a 2016 study by FranchiseHelp, SMS messaging is preferred over phone calls as a means of marketing communication by a 9 to 1 margin. Text messaging customers deals can help elicit more purchases by alerting them to current specials.

6. Local SEO and Google Business Profile

Google Maps shows the listing for most dispensaries (you can add a new place if you are not listed yet). Be sure to claim your Google Maps listing and fill out all the information completely. Your Google Maps listing is the same thing as Google Business Profile. The information here, and on your website, is used to compare data accuracy with all your other third-party listings. Make sure you have the brand name, address, phone number, and business category correct. Add photos of your dispensary, both inside and outside, and add your logo and team photos to this profile. Encourage customers to leave reviews (though keep in mind it is against Google policies to incentivize reviews).

7. Leveraging Online Reviews

Potential customers often read online reviews before shopping at a store or dispensary. Reviews that mention specific keywords, or that other online users find useful may rise to the top in Google Maps or Yelp. By asking customers to leave reviews, it can help your SEO rankings, and tell future customers what the experience is like at your cannabis dispensary.

8. Measuring Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

KPIs are metrics that can indicate future success and are targets that businesses set for their teams to measure overall success. Some examples of KPIs can include: number of Google and Yelp reviews in a quarter, number of new customers in a specific time frame, visits to your website, sales of a specific product, or email signups to a newsletter. KPIs that predict future success are known as leading indicators; lagging indicators are the measure of current success. What gets measured is what gets worked upon. Decide which indicators are most important for your dispensary and work toward a goal.

9. Referral Programs

Your repeat customer base can grow when existing customers tell a friend. A 2012 survey of 28,000 respondents by Nielsen showed that  92% of consumers trust the recommendations of friends and family over all other forms of brand information and messaging. How can you get existing customers to refer new cannabis customers to your dispensary?

One type of referral program gives customers a discount or gift card for referring a new customer. This can help nurture and existing customer relationship and create a new one.

10. Community Involvement

You may not have considered community involvement to build your brand, but it can create a powerful positive sentiment in your city. There are many efforts in your town that need community support, and people won’t forget it was your business that helped sponsor that help.

Canned food or clothing drives, collecting goods for a homeless or battered women’s shelter, hosting a toy drive for needy kids – all these are examples of how businesses can give back to the community. Have your volunteers wear branded T-shirts, get some photos for your social media, and help your city out. You may even offer discounts to customers who volunteer their time. It helps the community and builds good will for your dispensary brand.

11. Local Partnerships

Bars, restaurants, breweries, and local shops are also small businesses within your community. By doing a cross-promotion with them, it can be beneficial for both parties. Be sure to promote your partner businesses as they are promoting yours.

12. Outdoor Billboards

In many cities, dispensaries and cannabis delivery shops are using traditional and digital billboards to build brand awareness. In municipalities with lots of competition, this may be a necessary marketing tactic to keep pace with other local dispensaries.

Leverage Our Experience in Dispensary Retail Displays

For more than 25 years, Bud Bar Displays has been designing award-winning retail displays and store fixtures. Our team of specialists was assembled with one goal in mind – to help cannabis dispensaries display products in a professional manner and increase their overall revenue. Dispensaries around the world have used our line of display cases, store fixtures, and product displays to highlight their cannabis and CBD product lines.

Whether your need displays for a dispensary large or small, we can help you determine exactly how to design a memorable customer experience.

If you need help with choosing the right product displays for your dispensary, contact the team at Bud Bar Displays, or call us at (916) 858-2000.

An important aspect of a successful dispensary is creating a store layout with good customer experience and flow.

As the legal cannabis market continues to grow both domestically and internationally, the competition for local dispensaries increases. Attracting and retaining customers becomes crucial, and customer experience is a large part of earning repeat business.

The layout of the dispensary plays a crucial role in customer flow, branding, and driving sales growth. Moving customers through a designed path to expose them to specific product lines is a best practice of retail stores. Cannabis dispensaries are specialized retail stores, and many of the same principles apply. Still, there are specific considerations for merchandising cannabis and CBD products that will help boost revenue in your dispensary.

In this guide to dispensary layout design, we examine factors you must contemplate, such as store aesthetics, type of dispensary, interior design, sales psychology, and product marketing.

Considerations for Dispensary Design and Layout

With more dispensaries opening every year, making a positive impression, and winning customers is more important than ever. The decisions you make regarding the design of your dispensary will have an impact on your day-to-day operations and will contribute to your monthly revenue.

Psychology of Retail Shopping

Large scale retailers design their stores in specific ways to maximize the exposure of products to customers, boost certain products, and make customers feel welcome in a retail shopping experience. There are many lessons that dispensary owners can glean from these insights.

In Paco Underhill’s book, Why We Buy, he noticed that shoppers in the US and UK walk to their right upon entering a store. This principle is known as “The Invariant Right”. Some retail experts speculate this may have to do with most people being right-handed, or American drivers using the right-hand side of the road. Retailers use the Invariant Right principle to put must-see items on the right side of the store. Dispensaries can use this concept to place hot ticket items on the right side of the sales floor.

Another retail best practice is leaving the entranceway uncluttered. The area that is five to fifteen feet within the sales floor entryway is known in retail as “The Decompression Zone”. Shoppers tend not to notice any displays that are within this area. Studies have shown that customers need a moment to mentally transition upon entering a store, and they tend to scan the walls and then inner area, ignoring the entryway.

Additionally, shoppers (especially in the US) prefer to have adequate personal space when browsing a store, so they do not brush up against other shoppers. This is known as the “butt brush effect” in retail terminology.

Another tip, long hall-like aisles discourage extended browsing. By placing wall mounted displays and taller floor displays along the perimeter of the store, and placing display tables in the middle of the sales floor, it encourages shoppers to browse and find the products they are seeking.

Lastly, displaying impulse items near the register and checkout will help add incremental sales to the average customer order.

What Defines Your Brand?

The shopping experience at your dispensary is a part of your brand. Meticulously designing this experience is an important part of growing your customer base. Consider these questions and figure out how to make your store fit the answers. What impression do you want customers to have when they enter your dispensary? What aesthetic fits the vibe of your brand? Are you going for a clean and elegant experience, or a more casual vibe? All the aspects of your store layout and design contribute to this messaging, telling customers what your brand is about. This includes your logo and brand identity assets, interior design, the way you present the dispensary on your website and social media, and brand name. All of these details help tell the story of what differentiates your dispensary from every other one.

Visual Aesthetic

The visual aesthetics of your retail cannabis store will depend on the brand voice you are aiming for, and the customer base you are serving. The location of your dispensary may also influence your interior design choices. Are you going for an upscale look? Perhaps you are aiming for a traditional retail store look and feel. Other dispensaries may try to emulate the visual presentation of a day spa. Some dispensaries may prefer to craft an edgier, casual feel. It all depends on the clientele you want to attract and retain, and the community you are serving. Remember, that in the present day, the shopping experience at cannabis dispensaries is closer to traditional retail, and most dispensaries create an aura of safety, no matter the aesthetics they embrace.

Medicinal vs Recreational Dispensary

Certain states mandate separation of medical and recreational cannabis areas. Consult your local and state regulations for guidance. If your state does require separate areas for recreational and medicinal cannabis, you might consider tailoring the design to fit each display area.

For states that have fully legalized recreational marijuana use, you may have more options for designing a retail space. Merchandising, customer flow, and interior design may all have different opportunities for layout in these states. If your state or country has only approved cannabis for medicinal use, your merchandising and sales floor design may use more reserved design, and the products may only be displayed behind the counter.

Public vs Private Space and Local Regulations

Some regions and municipalities have regulations for what areas of the dispensary are considered public access vs private access, only available to employees and vendors. Specific signage or security protocols may be required for areas that are behind the counter, or employee-only access.

Traffic Flow and Customer Experience

Designing the flow of foot traffic through your dispensary sales floor will affect the customer experience. By prioritizing specific displays. Some dispensaries use displays with product education built in, other dispensaries staff more budtenders to create a more consultative experience.

Space Constraints

The retail space you are leasing has a certain amount of room, and you must include certain things in your dispensary (waiting room, sales floor, back room inventory). Some commercial spaces have windows or other natural lighting. Executing your design plans must work within the constraints of available space.

1. Bank Model

The Bank Model most common type of layout for both medicinal and recreational cannabis dispensaries. In this model, customers check in at a front desk and wait in a queue for the next available budtender. When their turn comes, they enter the secure area (sales floor) of the dispensary, and a budtender consults with them and checks out their purchase. Staffing is one budtender for each allotted customer at any given time, plus staffing for the reception area and (in some municipalities) a door attendant). Inventory can be handled in one of three ways: 1) budtenders manage their own inventory, 2) budtenders share some inventory, or 3) all budtenders share the same inventory.

2. Pharmacy Model

Less common than the Bank Model, in the Pharmacy Model, there are three steps. Patients/customers check in at the reception area and wait for an available budtender. The budtender checks them out and gives them a receipt, but not the product. The product is picked up at an inventory control station, where the patient’s ID is verified. This model may be used in regions where medicinal cannabis is legal, but recreational cannabis is not yet legal. The Pharmacy Model may also be a layout used where floor space is tight. One advantage to this model is it can move more customers through to checkout per day vs the Bank Model.

3. Open Retail Model

Open retail floorplans allow customers to explore and shop dispensaries more independently and shop at their own pace. The Open Retail model closely resembles the setup of the Apple Store. After customers check in, they enter the sales floor, where there are product displays on the wall, and on the sales floor. Budtenders roam on the sales floor to help customers fill a virtual cart. When customers are ready to check out, they are guided by the budtenders to the cashier station where they check out. This is a more high-touch and personalized customer experience. One disadvantage to the Open Retail Model is the need for increased staffing. This is an advanced model, and this can be difficult to manage efficiently for an inexperienced team. If you are opening a dispensary for the first time, it may be a better choice to use the Bank Model or Pharmacy Model for a while, and then transition your team to the Open Retail Model.

We’re Here to Help You Design a Profitable Dispensary

If you need advice or help on selecting the perfect retail displays for your dispensary, feel free to  contact the team at Bud Bar Displays. Our experts can help you with designing and implementing a dispensary customer experience that is efficient and effective for your dispensary brand.