As medicinal and recreational marijuana use become legal in more states, the number of cannabis e-commerce stores increases. Most consumers agree that online shopping is the best way to stock up on weed seeds.
With so much successful competition, it seems easy to set up shop and start selling right away. Anyone can begin a business, but knowing how to sell cannabis online is the key.
Whether you’re selling seeds that produce larger yields or the best fertilizer on the market—how do you make your cannabis e-commerce site stand out?
Read on as we share tips and tricks to take your web venture to the next level. Discover the tools and know-how, and you’ll be up there with the top players faster than you thought.
Design with User Experience (UX) in Mind
A user-friendly website is the key to your e-commerce cannabis shop’s success. Before you do anything else, consider ways to tailor the site to keep visitors on your page longer. You need to encourage more traffic and generate return customers.
It’s no use selling the fastest germinating marijuana seeds around if it takes the user 3 hours to complete their purchase.
Keep your cannabis e-commerce site clean and clutter-free for easy navigation. Ensure it only takes a click or two for customers to complete checkout. Your page must look attractive and have the speediness to match—which leads us nicely to our next tip.
Heighten Speed and Security
Most consumers bounce from a page or abandon their cart before checkout when the site lags. The slowness is usually caused by the design, plugins, and platforms—which you can easily avoid.
How do you make your cannabis e-commerce page as fast as possible?
Minimize the number of images on your site, making sure the remaining ones are in the right format, and that file sizes are small. Keep most pictures for marketing purposes. Only use plugins when necessary and invest in a quality platform to avoid too many technical issues.
High security and privacy are also essential to your cannabis e-commerce website. Start with firewalls and anti-malware or antivirus apps. Ensure the hosting service you choose has SSL authentication and is highly encrypted.
Despite the increasing legality and demand for marijuana, many users still prefer to buy with discretion. When you have these security measures in place, consumers feel the safety of their personal information is important to you, increasing their trust in your brand.
Define Your Niche
The foundation of a cannabis e-commerce site seems obvious, but there are many submarkets. Some websites focus on the cultivation and production of weed, while others include articles about the technical side, like grow lights.
The best way to get noticed in your market is by coming up with a new idea or building on an existing niche innovatively. Enter market research.
Take the time to browse the top-ranking competitors’ sites and see what their customers say about their pages and products. When you notice a part of their service that users aren’t happy with, demonstrate yours is better.
If they have poor customer service, provide the highest quality on your page. If consumers complain about the taste of their edibles, highlight how tasty yours are. Whatever the competition lacks, make it stand out on your e-commerce cannabis site.
Identify Your Audience
After you nail your niche, it’s time to identify your target audience. Do you sell small packets of seeds and bags of cannabis fertilizer? Your audience is home growers. If you advertise CBD products for dogs, target your site at pet owners who care about their animal’s health.
Identify your audience’s pain points and explore what your cannabis e-commerce brand can do to help them. Once you know exactly who you’re targeting, direct the design and all marketing efforts at this group.
Expand Your Marketing Platforms
Long gone are the days of waiting for an audience to spot your paper ad or see your TV commercial. It’s now easy for your e-commerce cannabis business to reach a global audience—and very quickly.
Accomplish a broader market by using a diverse range of channels and platforms. Once you optimize your website, consider the various social media platforms.
Instagram is excellent for sharing photos of your products, friendly staff members, and real happy customers. Facebook helps build a community and is perfect for interacting with consumers. Share breaking news on Twitter, and send discounts and updates via email.
Influencers help with word-of-mouth marketing and build trust in your cannabis e-commerce brand.
To optimize your marketing impact, ensure your business is easily identifiable across all platforms with a unified look. Interlink all the accounts to reach a larger audience and get your venture noticed.
The Legal Factor
What separates cannabis e-commerce from most other online stores? The legal implications of the product. Despite the government allowing the sale of some CBD-based items, there are still some legal loopholes.
You can’t use cutesy packaging that a child might find attractive. You also need to include a full ingredient list with the strain used, strength, and amount of CBD.
In some parts of the country, you can sell cannabis with THC. However, not all states permit you to offer marijuana for medicinal or recreational purposes. Most regions let you buy the seeds if they remain ungerminated. Confused yet?
With the different levels of legality country-wide, it’s vital to do your research before beginning your cannabis e-commerce venture. Sending or promoting something somewhere you’re not allowed could mean big problems for your business.
Grow Your Cannabis Business Today
Armed with our selling weed tips; it’s time to take your site to the next level and soar above the competition. When building your website, ensure it’s user-friendly, fast, and maintains high-security levels.
Define your niche, identify the target audience, and reach out to them on all possible marketing platforms. Before long, you’ll notice an increase in traffic and sales on your cannabis e-commerce site, further increasing your popularity.
Good luck with your venture! Now you know how to sell cannabis online the right way; you won’t look back.
Author’s Bio
Jennifer Gallagher
Jennifer Gallagher, an experienced cannabis grower at SeedSupreme Seedbank. During a 7-year career in the marijuana growing business, Jennifer has gained a high competence in this field. As far as weed is concerned, she knows it all inside out. Jennifer is an expert in pot-growing, as well as cannabis types and their effects. She’s also familiar with all legislation nuances.
Interesting Related Article: “Cannabis: Historical Medical Background“