Here’s the hard truth most dispensaries don’t want to hear: if you don’t capture your customer’s info on their first visit, you’re already losing them.
Not next month. Not next quarter. Right now.
The money is in the list. And if you’re not building one, you’re basically bleeding cash while someone else scoops it up.
The First Visit Is Make Or Break
Every single customer who walks through your door is a chance to build a relationship. But here’s the kicker: 70 percent of cannabis customers never return after their first purchase.
Let that sink in.
Seven out of ten people you worked hard (and paid hard) to get in the door won’t come back. That means most dispensaries are stuck in a hamster wheel of constant acquisition. Ads, influencers, SEO, events… all designed to pull in new faces.
But what about the faces that already came through?
If you don’t capture their email or phone number the very first time, you’ve got no way to reach them again. No way to remind them you exist. No way to make sure the next eighth, vape cart, or gummy they buy is from you.
Without A List, You’re Playing Defense
Here’s what happens when you ignore the list:
- You rely on foot traffic and chance.
- You hope they remember your shop’s name.
- You spend more and more just to replace customers who vanished.
That’s not a business strategy. That’s gambling.
And the competition loves when you gamble. Because the shop down the street that is building a list? They’re going to keep hitting those customers with reminders, deals, product drops, and loyalty perks.
Guess who wins that battle.
Lists Print Money (When You Use Them Right)
Now let’s talk about the other side.
When you build a strong list, you create leverage. Instead of praying people come back, you can make it happen.
Some real numbers:
- Email marketing averages $36 return for every $1 spent. That’s a 3,600 percent ROI.
- Cannabis shops with active email and text lists report 30 to 40 percent more repeat visits compared to shops that don’t.
- Push notifications from wallet-based loyalty platforms average 10 to 20 percent engagement, which crushes the reach of most social media posts.
You see the pattern? Control the list, and you control the repeat visits. Control the repeat visits, and you control your cash flow.
I’ve seen dispensaries that treat their list like gold hit consistent 7-figure annual revenues without blowing crazy money on ads. Meanwhile, shops ignoring the list are stuck in survival mode, barely covering overhead.
It’s the difference between having a money printer and having a leaky bucket.
The Leaky Bucket Problem
Most shops don’t fail because they can’t get customers. They fail because they can’t keep them.
Picture a bucket filled with water. Every new customer you attract is a pour into the bucket. But if you don’t have a system for capturing info and bringing them back, there are holes everywhere. That water is just draining out the sides.
That’s the Leaky Bucket Problem.
You’re celebrating traffic, but your actual revenue is flatlining because you’re not plugging the leaks.
The fix? Data capture. Every customer. Every time.
How To Actually Do It Right
Here’s the formula dispensaries should follow:
- Capture on the first visit. Train your staff that this isn’t optional. Email and phone number are the two keys. Some shops even add birthdays or preferences, but don’t overcomplicate it. First step is just locking in the basics.
- Make it frictionless. If you’re still using a clipboard at the counter, you’re losing half your customers before they even finish writing their name. QR codes, digital forms, loyalty wallet installs—those are the tools that get adoption rates above 80 percent.
- Use multiple channels. Email is still king. SMS is effective, but cannabis deliverability has gotten harder. You don’t want to rely only on texts. That’s why wallet-based push notifications and loyalty platform messaging are becoming the new secret weapon. Customers actually see them, and they feel less intrusive than texts.
- Automate the follow-up. Don’t leave it on your budtenders to remember to text a customer or send an email. The system should trigger it automatically:
- A thank-you within 24 hours.
- A reminder in 10 days when they might be low.
- A heads-up when new products drop.
- A thank-you within 24 hours.
Measure and tweak. Track what actually drives people back. Do customers respond better to reminders, or product drops, or loyalty perks? Once you know, you can scale it.
Imagine Two Shops Side By Side
Shop A doesn’t capture info. Customers walk in, buy, and walk out. Marketing is all external—billboards, ads, SEO. Cost of acquisition keeps climbing. Repeat business is flat. Margins are razor thin.
Shop B captures every first-time customer. Within 30 days, their list grows by hundreds. They send targeted emails and push notifications before weekends, before holidays, and when inventory turns over. Customers don’t forget them. They come back 5, 6, even 7 times a year.
When things get tight, Shop A cuts staff and hopes for the best. Shop B leans on their list and prints cash when they need it.
Which shop do you want to be?
The Bottom Line
Dispensaries live or die by repeat business. And repeat business lives or dies by the list.
If you treat customer info as optional, you’ll always be chasing. If you treat it like oxygen, you’ll build a business that lasts.
The money is in the list. Always has been. Always will be.
So stop the leaks. Start the capture. And watch how fast your numbers change.
Want to see how the best dispensaries capture customer data, run compliant follow-ups, and drive repeat visits? Learn more at HighDay’s cannabis marketing platform.
It’s the system built for dispensaries that are serious about growth, loyalty, and long-term survival.
More about HighDay at Beard Bros Pharms below.
From Chaos to Clarity: How My Cannabis Journey Sparked the Creation of HighDay
Carl Saling
Founder HighDay
