How to choose a dispensary TV menu provider

Digital signage, or dispensary TV menus, have become a “needs-to-have” for cannabis retailers for several reasons:

• Customers can’t easily see and interact with products like other industries. They need a way to know what cannabis products you carry.
• Availability and pricing change quickly. POS-integrated menus alleviate the customer frustration caused by out-of-date menus.
• Education is important in new industries. TV menus are an effective way to communicate with customers.

Read on for more about what dispensary TV menus are, how to choose a vendor, and what features to specifically look for in a digital signage provider.

Dispensary TV menus, also called digital signage, menu boards, feature boards, etc. are televisions (or other electronic screens) mounted inside a store or waiting room. They commonly show menus, graphics, videos, or other visuals. 

The purpose of TV menus in dispensaries are to educate, inform, or inspire. 

• Educate – Use TVs to teach about cannabis, including definitions to common terms, the difference between product types, common effects, etc.
• Inform – Use TV displays to let customers know about things, like new cannabis products, current specials or deals, or upcoming events.
• Inspire – Use digital signage to amplify your brand identity, encourage action like joining your loyalty program or following you on social media, or entertain with beautiful photos or video.

When you break it down, most of the providers offering digital signage for dispensaries have similar features. They do mostly the same thing.

How do you decide? Focus on factors that will impact your bottom line and retail goals.

Integrations

POS-integrated tv menus are vital; look to providers specific to the cannabis industry.

There are many digital signage vendors serving traditional industries that may be appealing. But beware … they won’t integrate with your point of sale.

Without an integration, you won’t have accurate menus. The benefits of integrating with your POS include: 

• Menus only show products that are in stock.
• Prices are correct.
• Menus at each store are correct for that store’s inventory.
• Real-time updates quickly remove a product when it sells out.
• Product type and details automatically carry into the menu.

 You also will have to manually create and update menus without an integration.  Talk about an expensive, tedious, and unproductive use of employee time and focus.

Tip! We integrate with all major cannabis POS providers, including Flowhub, Leaflogix, Treez, Blaze, Cova, and Meadow. We also integrate directly with Jane.

If branding and visual aesthetics are important to you, find a dispensary TV menu provider who allows you to create the look and feel you desire.

Branding, including colors, font, and logo, are important. But they’re only part of the customization needed to create a beautiful and effective digital retail experiences.

• Visuals – Menus are a great place to feature actual product designs. Ask about uploading custom images, graphics, or ads to enhance your menus and encourage sales to a particular product type or brand. 

• Layout – Depending on how your store looks, you may want menus to display in a certain way. Horizontal or vertical? One product category menu per screen? All displaying on one screen? Only certain vendors? Sorted by brand, sativa vs. indica, etc.? Make sure you have the customization from your vendor to create the menu of your dreams.
  
• Digital signage – We’re mostly talking about TV menus here, but they are only part of the digital engagement flow within your store. Make sure your vendor allows you to include video, gifs, and images to create the desired experience. Perhaps it’s rotating media and ads in the waiting room to educate customers while they wait, a video wall at check-in to entertain and build brand awareness, then menus at the check-out terminals. Dream up the experience and flow you want, and make sure your vendor can execute on it.

Think long-term. While your needs may be simple to start, your store look and feel will morph over time. Find a vendor who can support your ideas now and into the future.

TV menu board software can range in price. 

The reason price makes this list is because many providers aren’t transparent about their pricing, unfortunately.  What looks like a great deal at first glance becomes unaffordable after add-ons. 

When you’re comparing dispensary TV menu software:

• Compare apples-to-apples, meaning look at the actual features and support you’ll get for the price.
• Ask for the total price early on in conversations. Most sales teams will delay the price conversation or say it “starts at” an appealing price, but like to avoid sharing what it’d cost to do what you want.
• Watch for “per screen” pricing. Some providers price a flat fee per month per store. This should be unlimited screens. 
• Ask about additional fees. Do they charge for support? Design help? Hardware? Integrations? Onboarding? You need to know the full scope of the price to make an accurate comparison.
• Consider your full digital experience. Do you want screens in the waiting room, interactive tablets in addition to wall-mounted screens, self service ordering? These different types of screens could come with an additional cost.