How to Scale a Cannabis Delivery App Business?

The legalization of cannabis has been a hot topic for decades. But recently, we saw the support coming in from multiple sources – politicians, recreational and medicinal users, and economists alike. Cannabis has become a bipartisan issue and has seen support coming in from all corners – an event that has aided the flourishing of the cannabis delivery market size.

As per a recent report by Statista, the revenue for the global cannabis market is estimated to reach a valuation of $47.2 billion by the end of the year 2023, growing at a CAGR of 12.69%. Also, by 2025, the spending on legal cannabis will reach $76.12 billion by 2027. These figures indicate how this recent growth has offered the stakeholders an opportunity to invest in the sector and scale their business through a robust cannabis delivery app solution, only to find massive revenue generation opportunities.

What came leafed with massive revenue generation abilities was the influx of new-age entrepreneurs who entered the industry at the first sign of legalization. And today, cannabis entrepreneurs have found themselves on such a growth spike that they have now entered the stage of scalability. 

The majority of these growth spurts experiencing entrepreneurs cannot chart their scalability journey. There are a number of reasons behind this uncertainty that entrepreneurs are facing in terms of how to expand their businesses. These are:

• Sceptical in terms of where the industry is headed next
• Limitations in gaining financial help needed for scaling
• Availability of the right team
• Rising competition clouding the grow vs scale decision

By getting tangled within these webs of confusion, entrepreneurs are not able to get the necessary nudge that is needed to act on their preparedness to scale cannabis delivery app business. 

This blog is intended to give entrepreneurs who are economically ready to scale cannabis delivery business. 

Let us start by looking at the elements that will play a contributory role in formulating the cannabis delivery app growth ideas.

Elements You Need to Scale a Cannabis Delivery App Business

There are three things that any business book will tell you that directly impact the potential of whether or not you are ready to scale a cannabis delivery app business. Here are what those three factors are – 

More Money

This one is a no-brainer. Your cannabis delivery app funding model should be able to support the requirements and necessities that will come strung along with your scalability needs. Arranging capital is the first thing that you will have to consider when you are out preparing to scale. 

More Originality

While you would have started off as an innovator bringing something new to the cannabis industry, chances are that if you look around, you will find more businesses following the trend. 

Now in order to scale up your business and emerge as the utmost leader, you will have to deliver something out of the box to the users. By hiring a reputed cannabis delivery app development company, you will be able to level up your cannabis business by getting expert advice on cannabis delivery app growth strategies.

Find more Cannabis industry – Tips for Entrepreneurs to be Successful in the Market

Form the Right Business Plan for Scaling Cannabis Business

For your cannabis business, selecting the best business model and monetization strategy must come first. Here’s step-by-step guidance for creating the business plan to assist you with the procedure of scaling cannabis delivery business.

Conduct your Market Research 

The target market would be the first thing to look at before beginning the development of an on-demand cannabis delivery app. Research your users, study the market, and analyze the legal requirements. Read this blog to understand how to successfully launch a legal cannabis business. 

Legalized marijuana has a very bright future, but the road is also subject to various limitations. Before entering the market, analyze the issues and confirm that all legal requirements have been met.

Select a Revenue Stream

Choosing a revenue stream is crucial to scale cannabis delivery services. The three available business models are the direct-to-consumer model, the single-storefront model, and the multi-merchant model. Following that, you can create a unique, tailored business model for your mobile cannabis delivery business.

Direct-to-Consumer Model

Direct-to-consumer brands establish small branches, franchisees, or fulfillment centers in many global regions. This model enables you to serve a wider demographic of customers and cover a bigger geographic area, speeds up the delivery process, improving cannabis delivery logistics system.

In this module, you may engage either independent contractors or third-party delivery services, or their own in-house delivery staff.

Single Storefront Model

The single storefront model is a tried and tested revenue stream that promises a good ROI. You don’t need to have your inventory in order to use this model. Instead, you establish a network of nearby dispensaries that will take care of managing their orders and deliveries as well as their inventory. You receive a commission from the nearby dispensary in exchange for supplying orders to them. Only your customers need to pay a minimal delivery cost to have their requests met.

Multi-Merchant Model

Among business owners today, the multi-merchant or aggregator-based cannabis delivery business model is rising in popularity. This model, which promises good revenue, has been tried and tested. You don’t need to have your inventory in order to use this model. 

Instead, you establish a network of nearby dispensaries that will take care of managing their orders and deliveries as well as their inventory. You receive a commission from the nearby dispensary in exchange for supplying orders to them, and the consumers pay a little delivery cost to have their requests met.

Make Fundraising Decisions

One of the top cannabis delivery app scaling strategies is to seek fundraising from potential investors. It can be challenging to control the cost of medical cannabis app development on your own. So, connecting the appropriate investors may be an alternative.

Before presenting your mobile app for cannabis delivery, the app prototype should be finished. You can then contact angel investors to support your business initiative. Several cannabis businesses have gained funding above $10 million, including companies like Eaze, Canndescent, LeafLink, and Confident Cannabis.

[Bonus Read- How to Get Angel Funding on Your Mobile App Prototype?]

5 Points Checklist to Scale Cannabis Delivery App Business

Scaling cannabis delivery services can be quite confusing. Here’s a 5-point checklist of cannabis delivery app growth strategies that can increase cannabis delivery efficiency.

1. Decide Where to Deliver Cannabis

Different global states have their own distinct sets of laws. Therefore, the location would also determine your company’s licenses and compliances.

Ask for demographic details like

• How many people in the neighborhood consume cannabis?
• Is that stretch of land safe to operate a business?
• Find out if the market is open to the cannabis business

2. Stock Acquisition for your Product

There are two ways to partner with the merchants when you want to start your cannabis delivery service. You can collaborate with a dispensary to offer online delivery services.

Alternatively, you may locate a wholesaler who is authorized to source the marijuana supplies you need. Find merchants who have the required licenses and permits. 

3. Comply with all Delivery Regulations

The market for cannabis is extremely regulated globally. As a result, there are rigorous requirements related to cannabis regulations. Check to see if your drivers are familiar with the laws of your city and state.

The legal requirements are

• A minimum age of 21.
• They must be in possession of their driver’s license, employer ID badge, and any relevant delivery of cannabis papers. 

4. Promoting Cannabis Delivery Business

For scaling cannabis business, you need to focus on promoting your cannabis delivery business. Make your to-do list related to marketing your mobile app for cannabis delivery.

As soon as you can, start your business listing. Spread the word by leveraging the power of social media as the consumers of cannabis range in age from young adults to seniors, who are highly active on social media platforms.

Due to federally regulated restrictions, sponsored advertisements will be largely forbidden; therefore, digital marketing will be a surefire method of bringing a sizable volume of traffic.

5. Improve Efficiencies

You are at a stage where you have the economic power to capitalize on the increasing business size. What you need now is to understand the cannabis delivery app benefits and elevate it. The way to do that is by improving efficiencies in your cannabis business.

The ways these efficiencies can be achieved are: through streamlining cannabis delivery operations with team communication, getting pricing from vendors to bring the cost of cannabis down, etc. Ultimately, the more efficient you make your business processes, the more you would be able to scale cannabis delivery app business.

Additional Ways to Scale Cannabis Delivery app Business

To scale cannabis delivery app business, you will have to think ahead of your competitors and adopt newer technologies to keep top businesses from wiping you off the charts. 

A few additional ways of scaling cannabis business are

• Through ISO approval
• By increasing the offerings on your app
• Through competitive pricing
• Using cannabis cryptocurrency integration
• By becoming a 24*7 business
• By becoming an AI-powered cannabis delivery app

Let Appinventiv be your Cannabis App Development Partner

The methods to scale cannabis delivery app are innumerable, but the key to achieving scalability in your cannabis delivery app business without many hassles is a movement that would require you to find a mix of the right team and continuous innovations. 

Only when you are able to find an equilibrium between both, you would be able to sustain the challenges and fluctuations that come with scaling a cannabis delivery app business and ultimately become a part of the future of the cannabis app industry. 

The future of the cannabis market will provide more amazing business prospects as long as the wind is blowing in the right direction. Current reformations in the cannabis industry suggest that you should pursue your business dreams immediately in light of the growth in eCommerce.

Summarizing, the following would be needed to launch a cannabis delivery startup:

1. Understanding the target market and customer demand
2. Obtaining licenses and complying with the laws
3. Assembling the ideal development team
4. A well-prepared marketing plan

Scaling cannabis delivery through technology can only be achieved if you have the right strategies in place. Connect with a cannabis mobile app development company like ours for getting a robust cannabis delivery app solution built. 

FAQs

Q. What are the key features of a successful cannabis delivery app?

A. The success of a cannabis delivery app business mainly depends on its cannabis delivery app features or components. Any cannabis delivery app is bifurcated into 4 panels, including the user, store, admin, and delivery agent panels. Let’s check them out in brief:

1. User Panel 

This panel allows your users to look for their preferred cannabis product, check their prices, and make a purchase. Here is the list of features that you need for your user panel:

• User registration 
• Product search 
• Shopping cart
• Online payments 
• Real-time order tracking 
• Order history 
• Rating and review

2. Store Panel

This panel allows the store to handle both user and delivery agent panels to ensure smoother management of orders. Here are some of the features of the store panel:

• Store profile 
• Product list 
• Product management 
• Accept or decline orders
• Order tracking 
• Payment management
• Reward management 
• Reviews and ratings

3. Delivery Agent Panel

This intuitive panel allows the delivery personnel to handle orders smoothly. Here is the list of features for the same:

• Profile registration
• Order management 
• GPS navigation
• Push notification 
• Review and ratings 
• Report generation

4. Admin Panel

Here are some of the top features that should be implemented in the admin panel:

• Dashboard
• Manage Dispensaries 
• Manage Earnings
• Manage Commissions
• Manage Users
• Manage Delivery Boys
• Notifications Management
• Reporting and Analytics

Q. How cannabis delivery app raise money?

A. If you are wondering how can a cannabis delivery app development increase business revenue, then you need to first opt for a business model that can become your additional revenue stream. Here are some of them:

• Delivery Specific
• Aggregator Model
• Single Store Model

Q. What are the benefits of having a mobile app for a cannabis delivery business?

A. A mobile app can support your dispensary operation’s success in the most convenient and economical way as demand and competition in the cannabis market rise. Read this blog to know how can you bring your cannabis business online. 

A mobile app can help you organize your processes, provide unique customer experiences, and bridge the gap between marketing, client retention, and sales. Here are a few other benefits of having a mobile app for a cannabis delivery business:

• Greater market opportunity 
• Better customer retention 
• Increased revenue
• Increased user satisfaction

Q. What are some of the top marketing strategies for scaling cannabis business?

 A. Check out some of the ways to scale cannabis delivery services:

• Social media marketing

You may create your own audience by using relevant hashtags, eye-catching graphics, and instructional material, through social media marketing. Use live streaming, chatbots, Q&A sessions, contests, events, and so on.

• Traditional PR and media relations 

Conventional PR might be a crucial approach to investigating cannabis-related firms. Your path to success may involve submitting articles for publication to cannabis journals, social media pages, publications, and news outlets.

THE AUTHOR

Amardeep Rawat

Co-Founder and Director