You’ve heard it before: “We’re a different kind of dispensary. We curate experiences. We’re all about the vibe.”
Cool. Except no one cares.
Here’s the cold, hard truth: consumers only care about deals. They’re the number one driver of cannabis sales. Not your ambiance. Not your Instagram-worthy bud bar. If your competitor two blocks away is selling the same $40 live resin cartridge for $30, guess where your customers are going? That’s right—straight to your competition.
Loyalty in cannabis retail is a myth.
Unless you’re the only dispensary in a hundred-mile radius, your “unique experience” means jack when people can see your competition from your parking lot. It’s a price war out there, and the winners are the ones who know how to play the daily deals game.
People are cheap. They want the highest THC for the lowest price. And if you’re not giving them that, they’ll gladly go somewhere else. Here’s the kicker: daily deals aren’t just about slashing prices—they’re about strategic planning to drive consistent foot traffic and increase basket size.
I’ve worked in cannabis marketing for years, and I’ve seen it firsthand. A dispensary running daily email and MMS campaigns with rotating deals can easily hit $65k+ a day in revenue. How? By giving people a reason to come in every single day.
Here’s how you do it right:
Create themed promotions like “Wax Wednesday” where concentrates are the star of the show. Customers love predictability—they’ll plan their shopping around your schedule.
Highlight your top three brands or products and build your deals around them. Hook customers with what they already love.
Pair deals to boost basket size. For example:
“Spend $100 and get a BOGO on indoor 8ths.”
Combine that with your “Wax Wednesday” discount on pens, and boom—your customer walks out with a cart full of product, not just the one deal they came for.
A strong email and text message marketing strategy is the backbone of your daily deals. You need to be consistently in front of your customers, reminding them about today’s unbeatable deals and giving them one-click options to order.
If a deal gets stale or customers aren’t flocking to the store for it, switch it up. The cannabis market changes fast, and your promotions should too.
To maximize your daily deals, you need to work with cannabis-friendly email and SMS marketing providers. Here are some of the best platforms dispensaries can use to promote deals and drive sales:
Springbig specializes in loyalty programs, email, and text message marketing for cannabis businesses. Their intuitive platform lets you send automated daily deal reminders and segment your customers based on their buying habits.
While not cannabis-specific, Klaviyo is a powerhouse for email marketing. It’s perfect for creating personalized campaigns and automations to reach your customers with tailored offers that drive conversions.
Alpine IQ takes the guesswork out of promoting daily deals with smart tools like customer segmentation, real-time analytics, and omnichannel campaigns. Want to target your biggest stoners with laser focus? Done. Need to spam—uh, strategically notify—customers about Wax Wednesday? Easy. Plus, their loyalty program integration helps you reel in repeat customers while keeping your dispensary packed.
People are creatures of habit. When you rotate deals and communicate them consistently, customers will schedule their shopping trips around your promotions. The result? Increased foot traffic, higher basket sizes, and better customer retention.
For example, let’s say you run a “Wax Wednesday” campaign. Your customer comes in for the discounted wax pens, but thanks to a “Spend $100, Get a Free 8th” promo, they leave with their usual plus some extra product. Over time, those “extras” add up, boosting your sales without having to increase your customer base.
You can’t curate loyalty, but you can create habits. Using strategic deals and platforms that make it easy to communicate with customers, you’ll give them a reason to show up on the regular.
Forget the “vibes.” Focus on the value. Because in cannabis retail, deals aren’t just king—they’re the whole damn kingdom.