Must-Have Features of a Cannabis Delivery Business

Even after half of the US has legalized the use of medical cannabis, you might often come across a few cross glares when talking about starting a cannabis delivery business. It is not just considered a social taboo, but even investors and entrepreneurs lack confidence in the relatively new industry. 

Despite the reservations, the cannabis industry continues to grow at a rapid pace and the cannabis-based healthcare industry has reached a milestone of $20.6 billion so far and is expected to touch $42.7 billion by 2024. 

It is evident by the numbers that a cannabis delivery business makes perfect sense to invest in. Since the pandemic seems to have made a permanent impact on the world’s buying habits, creating an on-demand cannabis delivery app is the right way to go about this business.

Before we dive into the details of the features of a cannabis delivery business, there are few things we need to understand. 

Let’s start with the ‘why’.

Role of Dedicated Delivery Management App in Your Cannabis Delivery Business

Both marijuana and cannabis have extensive uses in the recreational and healthcare sector respectively. If done right, an investment in the same can yield an amazing ROI. And if you take into consideration the statistics mentioned earlier, more people will spend money with a cannabis delivery business. 

Points That Need Your Attention 

However, you still need to take a few factors into consideration before you invest time and money into a cannabis delivery business. Let’s take a look at them:

• Conduct in Depth Research About the Business:

Much like any other business, you cannot take on the cannabis delivery business blindly. You need to gain in-depth knowledge of the ongoing trends, products, and business models in the locations cannabis has been legalized. Moreover, you need to find out if there are enough customers in the geographical area you wish to operate in. 

• Choose Your Business Model:

To keep things simple, we will discuss the online business model for your cannabis business. It is similar to a food delivery business and you can develop your very own brand to sell products or create a marketplace where multiple businesses can showcase their offerings to customers while you manage the entire logistical and aggregation process.

Online cannabis delivery business thrives on commissions earned from each delivery and/or premium memberships, similar to food ordering apps. You can also incorporate advertisements to add an additional revenue stream to your cannabis delivery business.

• Solutions to Get Started:

When creating an app-based business, you can either develop a completely new product with a fresh code or use ready-to-use solutions to configure your marketplace. Remember, developing fresh code for each process can take months and requires a thorough quality assurance process. 

Note: There are several parts to a delivery business and each one can be optimized with ready-to-use tools. For example, you can use NetworkON – An AI-Powered delivery management system to optimize your delivery process and automate all the steps in the process like order management, dispatch, route optimization, order tracking, digital proof of delivery, customer feedback, etc. 

• Take Care of Licensing and Documentation:

Make sure you take care of all legal procedures before setting up your cannabis delivery business. Get all the required clearances and documentation done from government authorities, testing labs, distributors, etc. well in advance.

• Find the Right Development Team:

As discussed above, you can choose to have an in-house development team at your disposal or buy a ready-made tool and configure it according to your business requirements. In either case, you will need a team behind you. Make sure there are a few subject matter experts at your disposal to counter any challenges you might face during your initial days.

Must Have Features of a Cannabis Delivery Business

Once you have taken care of the aforementioned points, it is time to focus on developing your on-demand cannabis delivery app. Some of the best apps in the world are extremely easy to use and you should keep this in mind when developing your own. 

Your app has a great concept! Well done! But will it be of any use if your users are not able to navigate through it, let alone place any orders? Absolutely not! In the past, many apps with great features failed miserably because they were too complicated to use. 

So, to avoid such an issue, keep user-friendliness as your top priority and then focus on the features that we are about to discuss in the following lines. 

For Admin

The administrator’s panel is used to monitor all activities across different sections of the app. It is used to manage orders, automate dispatch, send push notifications, resolve customer complaints and get feedback. Here is how each function works out in the admin panel:

• Dashboard:

It offers a centralized view of the entire information to the business owner and gives access to app usage-related data. 

• Order Management:

You can use this feature to manage every order that enters the system. You can set up rules to dispatch jobs automatically or do so manually if required. You can also track if the orders have been delivered to customers or not. 

• Customer Data Management:

You can use this functionality to manage your customers’ information and inform your delivery partners about their details in case of any discrepancies. You can also get a bird’ eye view of your customer database and use it to launch any promotional campaigns. 

• Manage Listings: 

Use this feature to keep track of all the products listed on your website or app. In addition to cataloging, you can also get reports about your best and worst selling products.

• Customer Feedback and Reports:

This feature allows you to check the feedback and reports submitted by your customers. You can analyze this information from the admin panel and use it to improve your services. 

For Customers

This panel is used by your customers to complete their shopping. This is the part of your app that requires a lot of attention to detail and should be free of any bugs and errors. Here are the features you must have in the customer panel to have a successful app:

• Easy SignUp and Login Options: 

Don’t make the customers work too hard when signing up. Allow them to sign-up through various social sign-on like Facebook and Google. However, since you are in the cannabis delivery business, make sure you have a proper identity check in place to prevent under-aged users from signing up. 

• Enable Smart Search Features:

Include smart filters to help your customers in simplifying their shopping experience. Sort your products under different categories and have a search bar at the top to help them find their preferred items by name or composition. 

• Multiple Payment Options: 

Make sure you incorporate as many payment options as possible in your app. Not all customers are comfortable using a single payment method. Include PayPal, Payment Wallets, Credit Cards, Internet Banking, and more payment options to attract more customers to your brand. 

• Track Order and Schedule Deliveries:

Customers appreciate it if they stay informed about the progress of their order. Let them track where their order is and provide ETAs for the same. In addition to that, allow them to schedule deliveries at a specific time in case they are not available at the designated time. Offer convenience and increase your chances of receiving more repeat orders in the future. 

• Customer Ratings and Reviews: 

Allow your customers to share their experience with your brand directly from the app. Use the information to improve your services and train your delivery partners on making better deliveries in the future. 

For Delivery Partners

This part of your application is used by delivery partners and they receive regular updates about upcoming jobs/tasks,  generate digital proof of delivery, use the navigation to reach their destination, and fetch customer information. Let’s take a look at the features you must-have in the delivery partner app:

• Easy Profile Creation: 

All delivery partners must register themselves on the app with valid ID proof before they can start delivering products to customers. 

• GPS Navigation and Tracking:

An in-built GPS navigation system allows the delivery partners to find their way when delivering packages along different routes and take them directly to their destination. It also helps them in creating a route map for all the deliveries during the day. 

• Digital Proof of Delivery:

It allows them to generate a digital proof of delivery and alerts the administrators that the order was delivered on time with photographs, barcode scans, and customer signatures as confirmation. 

Next Step? Strengthen Your Cannabis Delivery Business With an AI-Powered Delivery Management Software

‘Why do I need delivery management software for my cannabis delivery business?’, you might ask. Well, you cannot afford to sit around all day and manage each order manually. Moreover, if you really want to save time and money spent on delivering products then investing in delivery management software is the right choice.

Here are few things a delivery management software helps your company with:

• AI-Powered route optimization to reduce delivery times and mitigate fuel expenses
• Automate dispatch and other logistics-related processes 
• Track orders and delivery ETAs to customers and admins
• Enable communication between admins, delivery partners and customers via texting or phone call
• Send push notifications about incoming orders, order delays or delivery rescheduling requests
• Generate digital proof of delivery 
• Set geofencing for delivery teams to improve their efficiency during delivery runs
• Overcome last mile delivery challenges faced by organizations

Want to know more about the capabilities of delivery management software for the cannabis delivery business? Let’s talk!

NetworkON optimizes the delivery arm of your business, helps you save money, and generates more revenue for your brand. Regardless of what industry you operate in, you cannot achieve the best performance until your delivery partners operate at optimal capacity. 

Start using NetworkON for free right away and experience the positive impact it has on your business first-hand.

Schedule a free consultation with our experts today. For more information about NetworkON, email us at info@networkon.io or visit our website. 

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