We are living in a fast-changing world where things that were condemned yesterday have become tomorrow's trends.
This trend applies to the usage of marijuana, legalized in 33 U.S. states and forward-thinking countries such as Canada, Germany, and Israel. Medical marijuana is growing big, aside from the recreational usage of cannabis. But despite increased demand for medical marijuana, only a few licensed dispensaries provide users with on-demand medical marijuana online delivery services.
- The U.S. government decriminalized cannabis for medical purposes in 33 states, and the District of Columbia in 2018
- Canada officially decriminalized marijuana in 2018 for both recreational and medicinal purposes
- Western European countries such as Netherlands, Germany, Czechia, and Greece decriminalized medical marijuana for personal use
Factors To Consider Before Developing Cannabis Delivery App Development
1. Research And Gather Comprehensive Details On Business
Before you start developing a Cannabis Delivery app, you need to get in-depth knowledge about the business. When it comes to medical marijuana, apps like Uber Weeds is one of the key market players. To start your Marijuana Delivery App, you should study and find those locations where Cannabis is legalized.
Finding a targeted audience is also predominantly crucial for your business. To market your product, you need to build personal relationships with your customers by providing them insights, tips, and recommendations about medical Marijuana. This way, they will know about the advantages and medical experiences of the marijuana delivery app.
2. Connect Licensed Cannabis Stores With Legal Buyers
The map integration feature will display the licensed cannabis dispensaries to its legal buyers. To filter the verified audience for your medical start-up, you need to check the doctor's verified prescription that the customers will upload in the app.
With the help of the 'dispensaries near me' option, it becomes easier for the customers to purchase Marijuana which ultimately attracts more audience and more sales. This way, your app can be the one-stop solution for both the dispensaries as well as the users, and at the same time, you can create your brand persona.
3. Provide The Latest News And Updates About Marijuana Delivery Solutions
You need to feed your customers with real-time alerts of the latest news and updates of new rules and regulations on Marijuana in push notifications. Apart from that, you can design the complete itinerary of your other medical products with generic updates to your users.
Types Of Business Model
Once you get the license to start your cannabis delivery business then it's time to decide and design a perfect business plan. The following are the two business models when it comes to the cannabis delivery business.
1. Online Marketplace
This business model is similar to the food delivery app. Your brand can develop an online marketplace by partnering with the licensed stores of your town, city, or state.
The online marketplace business model can immensely help your brand by making a strong presence in the cannabis industry. But to get success, your brand must give platforms to several store owners, delivery executives, and customers.
The online marketplace basically survives on the commissions. For the delivery of each order, your business will get a specific commission from the vendor. You can even monetize your app by placing advertisements.
2. Single Medical Dispensary
If you have your own dispensary, then this single medical dispensary model is the perfect choice for you. For instance, if you are a licensed marijuana wholesaler cum retailer and you want to provide your service to a larger audience, then this business model is suitable for you.
For this, you need to build your on-demand cannabis delivery app development for your dispensary, which will help in boosting your sales. But you need to ensure that your application is attractive and user friendly.
As you have your own online cannabis delivery app, there is no limitation to get new consumers. You will even get an opportunity to place ads of various other brands. This way you can earn extra money.
Features Of Cannabis Delivery App
Your Cannabis Delivery App will act as a marketplace where there will be four different types of panels. Thus, your company has to develop four apps: a buyer app, a store owner app, an admin app, and a driver app. For better app development and design of your Marijuana app, you need to consider the following key features that will make your app look attractive and user friendly.
Customer Panel
The unique features of app development software enable the customers to order weed, marijuana, online without stepping out and get them at their doorsteps. By using in-built features, customers can filter the available products price-wise or category-wise, and use the on-going offers easily.
Driver Panel
A specific part of cannabis delivery software is a driver app that helps them to get the complete list of all the deliveries ordered by the customers. The list indulges the complete information of customers, the address of the customers, contact information, payments, etc. As per the mentioning particulars, the delivery software helps the driver experts to deliver the products to the customer's doorsteps.
Chat Options
Helps them to interact with customers by using text messages or calling options.
Admin Panel
This platform is designed to sort all the problems of the service providers. By spending little in cannabis delivery app development solutions, you can organize, handle, and get a real-time view of their business through the dashboard feature. Categorize the products or display them individually, add or remove from the list, are some of the benefits it offers to the owners dealing with the weed, cannabis, marijuana, etc. Some of the other features are-
Additional Features Of The Cannabis Delivery App Development
To make the app more advanced and interesting, you can add more features that are listed below:
In-App Document Scanner
The buyers who will upload the doctor's prescriptions in the app, the inbuilt scanner will be very helpful to your company to check the authenticity of the documents.
Electronic Health Record Connected Buyer Profile
To provide the better service your cannabis delivery app should be efficient enough to share the electronic health record of your customers to the healthcare provider such as hospitals, doctors, and laboratories.
Doctor's Advice
If the user is not sure about the particular product that they are willing to purchase from the app, then providing the expert's guidance will make the buying experience much better. Your app must contain a doctor's consultation service for their discussion in a hassle-free manner.
Push Notification
Push Notification is one of the most important features that your Marijuana Delivery App must-have. When you have placed your order, the app will notify the status of the order to you in the form of a push notification. It will also enable the users to get notifications on attractive deals and discounts.
In-App Communication
This feature will enable the buyers to communicate with the store owner either by call or message after placing the order. Similarly, the delivery executive can also call the customers to get the exact location details after he is out for delivery.
Call Masking
This feature will protect the personal identity of the customers as their phone numbers will not be shared with anyone.
Challenges & Solutions of Cannabis Delivery Business
As we have already discussed the development of Marijuana Delivery Apps, let us dive deeper into the several challenges faced by the brands:
Marijuana Delivery Is Time-Sensitive
Delivering medical cannabis to consumers is a time-sensitive process. If you fail to deliver the product on time, then there are the chances to bring a negative impact on the patient's health. Thus, you must maintain reliable delivery services.
Supply Chain Visibility
The supply chain visibility functions of the medical cannabis delivery brands are extremely complex. The reason behind this is the operational problems faced while working as well as communicating with a large number of suppliers. For this, you need to hire people who can scale up the business and the supply chain operations without making unnecessary expenses.
Orders Allocation
If you fail to maintain the accurate order allocations, it has to bear the additional cost for both the store owners and customers. When it comes to the store owners, the inaccurate order allocation will lead to delay in delivery with huge delivery charges. At the same time, the customers have to wait for a longer duration, which may even result in the loss of life.
Poor User Experience
Generally, cannabis delivery startups are facing loss because of the inconsistent user experience. As mobile applications have become a part of our fast speed culture there are some loopholes which not only affect the device but also provide a poor user experience. Some mobile applications contain lots of bugs and malware which the users install unknowingly. Here the developers should check if the app is free from bugs or not.
Cost of Developing Cannabis Delivery App
There is a wide range of web app development companies that may answer you with the estimation of $40,000 to $50,000 for a cannabis delivery app. But truth be told, no one can give you the exact estimation of the application development without having a detailed discussion with the experts.
So to help you understand the factors affecting the cost of cannabis app development, here is the list of key cost parameters:
Designing a cannabis delivery app is not an easy task, for that, it is essential to hire a team of designers that have a good understanding of the business logic and can customize the app design.
Another factor that affects the development cost of the application is the mode of testing it. However, the cost of app testing can be minimized by hiring app development companies.
If you need some customization in your application, it can be another factor that can increase the overall cost of the cannabis delivery app development.
To keep the app running smoothly and hassle-free, it is crucial to update it every now and then. So the maintenance and support cost of the cannabis delivery app can be around 25% of the entire cost.
Overall, while keeping all the facts in mind, it would not be wrong to say that the cannabis delivery business is becoming a topmost industry in many countries including the US. So, if you are looking for getting started in the cannabis industry or expanding your cannabis business, an on-demand delivery app like BongMe is all that you need.
What's Your Take On Cannabis Delivery App Development?
The cannabis delivery industry is ever-growing, and it will keep on expanding its market base. The future of the market is undoubtedly bright, as many countries will legalize cannabis for medical purposes.
Statistics have clearly shown the growing trend of medical marijuana and with the help of a Cannabis delivery app, your brand can efficiently manage the stock, and inventories, logistics, suppliers, and customers.
A mobile application not only saves your time but also builds your brand identity and BongeMe can be your savior.
