Deep Dive: Three Tips for Creating In-Store Value

Image: LA Business Journal

COVID and digital transformation have been transformative forces in the retail-dependent cannabis industry. Many customers have reduced the volume and duration of retail visits, which means an uptick in online order & home delivery activity. This trend has been in parallel with the larger "on demand" commerce trends accelerated by the COVID pandemic.

While this transition has had its merits, like exceptional convenience and in-home education for customers, it has come at the expense of the highly valuable retail experience that helps customers understand and select from the wide variety of cannabis product options.

MedMen, one of the pre-eminent cannabis retailing brands in the cannabis space, has forged several initiatives to try to increase the value of the in-person retail experience.

These initiatives include elevating product offerings, revamping its pricing and assortment strategy, and focusing on increasing retail traffic

Most recently, they have developed a Cannaseur Personal Concierge Service to provide an expert-led cannabis shopping experience.

These efforts have been key to turning around the once-embattled retailer, as the company’s total revenue for the fourth quarter of 2021 was $39.1 million, a 20% increase from the three months that ended Dec. 26, 2020.

Key Takeaways For Driving Value In-Store

MedMen's story highlights a few ways that cannabis retailers can add value to the in-store retail experience.

1: Create an Elevated Product Offering

By selecting unique, high value products from boutique and established vendors, retailers can turn customers onto a new favorite that they may not have found online. This will create enormous value to customers and vendors alike.

2: Revisit & Differentiate the Assortment Strategy

In-store shopping should be differentiated from online shopping. This means that the markers of online shopping like breadth of choice, low price, and surface level features may need to take a back seat to curated products with higher value and more depth.

These attributes all shine in the retail space, where customers can engage with and fall in love with excellent products instead of rapidly choosing from a wide range of products based on price and one or two basic features.

3: Enhance the Value of Expert Staff

MedMen's concierge service is an outstanding display of retail staff expertise. Like high fashion, cannabis product trends are fast paced, difficult to grasp for the layperson, and are highly connected to personal identity.

This means that a trusted expert is a major value to customers who want the latest and greatest without having to keep an eye on fast-moving trends.

Read More: MedMen Launches Concierge Service to Grow Retail Operations [LA Business Journal]