A grand opening is the one day your neighborhood is guaranteed to pay attention to your dispensary, and most openings spend it on balloons and a one-day discount that is forgotten by the weekend. The openings that convert first-day visitors into regulars are built around three things: a real reason to show up, a mechanism that gets every visitor onto your list, and a branded item that goes home in every bag. Here is how to build one.
Create a real draw
First, price reduction has to be more than a number. Give the first 100 customers in the door a gift bag and watch as a normal sale turns into a long line of excited photo opportunities and positive word of mouth that will get people talking about your new retail location. A local food truck, a DJ, and appearances from brand partners cost little and immediately change the nature of the day from a normal sale to an occasion that people will be excited to attend. Please check for specific restrictions for giveaways and sales in the promoter’s state as cannabis retail promotions are regulated in almost every state, however most all merchandise and accessories are not restricted unlike product.
Turn visitors into your list
Sign up every grand-opening visitor to your store to your loyalty program and offer them a gift bag or a raffle entry as a thanks for visiting. Use their sign up as the way to collect their SMS opt-in at the door instead of having a clipboard – that list of people who walked through the door on opening day is your list for future drops, for future restocks of products and for events – and it is a list that will last longer than that one day.
Branded merch makes the day durable
Merchandise is what makes the day last for months. For a few dollars a gift bag can contain a grinder with the logo printed into it, a lighter, a pack of papers with the logo printed on them and a sticker. Save the most expensive items such as metal grinders or glass trays for the very first customers or include them in the raffle and take a photo of them – that is the aspirational item that people want to share with others. Make sure that everything in the bag has the logo printed into it – unbranded merchandise is a cost with no tail.
Press and partnerships
Beyond drawing foot traffic to your doors, as regulated retailers you can use the same channels to draw attention to your new shop: the local press will love a new business story with photos, community sponsorships travel fastest by word of mouth, and, best of all, partnerships with the non-cannabis retailers either adjacent to or otherwise near to you can place your flyers where retail ads cannot reach. Document the whole day, because the opening day’s content can provide social media ammunition for weeks to come.
The week after
The week after is just as important as the day of. A thank you w/ modest return on text to new list as well as a re-stock on anything that sold out just before weekend hits and then go over with staff what customers were looking for that they weren’t able to find. The opening of a store can also tell you what the neighborhood is actually looking for, and stores that listen can make adjustments to their inventory by week 2, instead of waiting until month 3.
Build the gift bags from custom grinders, lighters, and branded papers — then keep the momentum with the full dispensary marketing playbook.
