Point of Sale Systems for Dispensaries

Until as of late this year, Uruguay and Portugal have been the only nations to forego serious criminal action against cannabis. Uruguay having fully legalized it and Portugal having decriminalized all drugs in 2001. Canada is the next nation to follow suit. Given that cannabis has been made legal at the federal level, this will soon give way for independent dispensaries to cash in on the economic benefits. In thinking about the efforts that go into developing a business, cannabis inventory supply is one of the more important avenues of consideration. More specifically, dispensary inventory management can make or break your business.

Effective inventory management is important for regulating cost effectiveness when running your business. As well as, being compliant with state or provincial regulations. Depending on where you operate, state or provincial laws can dictate a large part of how you run your business through a complex framework of procedure and regulations. These policies can be confusing and difficult to navigate through. Hence, developing and keeping up with, your inventory managing systems becomes crucial to effectively operating your business. However, establishing a good inventory management system can be a frustrating process. Some common touch point problems dispensaries face can include:

Time

Running a business is difficult enough with all the day to day operations that need to be addressed. As well, a lot of dispensary owners may not have the relevant skills to design systems or softwares to keep up with proper management procedure. If you foresee this problem affecting you, you might consider installing a system as a two-in-one software with your POS

Taking this avenue allows you to save time in your day not having to worry about whether proper record keeping is being achieved. In most cases, automating process provides both long and short term cost saving benefits. That is, providing you are able to afford the upfront costs that may be associated with choosing the right program.

Record Keeping

As you are aware, depending on the level of government you are required to adhere to, inventory tracking policies can be strictly regimented or flushed out to leave room for interpretation. Either way, your inventory management system should be designed to take all aspects of your governing body’s laws into account. This might be difficult considering not all softwares have a one size fits all solution, at least not for cheap.

We recommend understanding everything your system needs to do before speaking to your service provider. Have a detailed idea of what you want then approach many service providers so you can find a system that best suits your needs while saving money at the same time.

Data Management

Like with any business, data is the driving force in which industry develops from. Properly collecting data can provide invaluable insight on how to run your business and even how to manipulate the market. Unfortunately most propiaters might find it difficult to find out how to use their data, and more so, what data they even need to collect.

Moreover, data security can become an issue. As we discussed earlier, keeping data and records secure is important for remaining compliant with government recommendation. If you do not choose to automate your inventory management process, your records are left vulnerable to real world conditions. Alternatively, automating your data leaves it vulnerable to theft or corruption.

Given that we have discussed some common problems that face most business owners with understanding inventory management. We are happy to provide some solutions into mitigating any issues and possibly provide some tips into choosing a good system.

Integrating technology with policy

Your local governing body should have fleshed out, in detail, their “seed-to-sale” tracking procedure. Understanding this procedure and developing the manner in which you want to comply with it is important to optimizing your inventory management system. The more basis you can cover, the better. You might find you are unable to cover every base, if that is the case, its okay, Just make sure whatever, you are not able to cover given your system, gets covered some way or another.

However, purpose built POS/inventory management systems should be well versed in what is required from you as a dispensary owner, if that software was developed in your region. It is unlikely you will find one that is unable to do everything you need it to do.

Loss Prevention

Find a system that not only helps you manage your inventory but helps you manage the security of your inventory. Your inventory is highly valued product so it would make sense that you take the care to ensure your the security of your product is taken into account when choosing an inventory management system.

It would be beneficial for you if your inventory management system includes features to flag recalled products or alert you of any auditing discrepancies.

Detailed Reporting functions

The government reserves the right to ask for detailed inventory and sales reports. They can choose to audit you at will. In the event that something like this happens you’ll want to be prepared as possible. Adopt an inventory management system with as detailed reporting as possible. Overkill is not necessarily a bad thing in this regards. The more bases you have covered, the better.

Detailed reporting is also an effective way to audit employee actions. In the unfortunate case you suspect a problem employee, your system should be able to track everyone’s transaction history to the minute and to the gram. An inventory management system with capable reporting functionalities will ensure your store is running smoothly and effectively.

An inventory management system is the backbone to any dispensary. Choosing an appropriate method to track your inventory can be the deciding factor in whether you’re swimming in cash or drowning in debt. At the end of the day, it’s left to your discretion. As long as you are complying with policies set out by your regulatory board then there is no right or wrong answer. Automated Inventory management system are the recommendation. They do a lot of work with little effort. Not only that, the capabilities with technology are endless. A system can do whatever you want it to as long as you can conceive it. We hope this article has been helpful in understanding an inventory management system and how to pick one.