How to Develop a Cannabis Delivery App That Stands Out

As the push for the legalization of marijuana or cannabis grows in countries, cannabis delivery app development is attracting significant attention of investors and entrepreneurs globally.

In figures, the drug is legalized in 35 states for medical use with a whopping 15 states allowing adults to legally use it for recreational purposes as well. And apparently, the numbers are in no mood to slow down.

If the prediction is to be believed, A Cowen analyst Vivien Azer revealed the U.S. marijuana industry will generate $85 billion in sales in 2030. That said, taking the first leap on this quickly penetrating and persuasive industry would be a point of difference.

To back you for your next step, here we uncover the basics needed to start an online cannabis delivery app development.

Starting from the business model to key features and technology stack, here you go.

The Business Model of Online Cannabis Delivery App

A Cannabis Delivery App utilizes three types of business model which enables it to grow incredibly fast at zero marginal cost:

1. On-demand Delivery App Model

On-demand delivery app model calls for the need for the delivery partner for various medical stores, clinics, and dispensaries dealing with weed delivery/medical marijuana delivery. You can simply be their delivery and logistics partner and charge a commission on every fulfilled order.

2. Cannabis Store-owner Model

Often known as the bricks-and-clicks model, this model is suitable for businesses that have physical stores or say medical shop(s) and look to operate online as well as offline. This model will give you the flexibility to sell medicinal marijuana or legalized cannabis to customers who do not have medical stores but want its doorstep delivery.

3. Aggregator Model

The most popular model seen these days is the Aggregator business model. Works just like Uber, here you have to handle every single operation. From monitoring buying, selling to handling delivery, you have to partner with various service providers and sell, deliver their services under your own brand. The aggregator type will need you to develop an app for three stakeholders i.e. Buyer, Seller, and Delivery Boy.

App Monetization Model

There are three common ways you can earn through medical marijuana delivery app:

1. Commission and Fees : Charge commission on every order placed via the app.
2. In-App Advertisement : Provide medical dispensaries to run ads of their cannabis products.
3. Paid Promotions : Feature cannabis providers on your app for promotion.

Here in this post, we will discuss the features of different stakeholders and discuss in detail all the key features that should be included.

Key Features of Cannabis Delivery App

Customer App

• App Registration : The user should be able to easily sign up on the app through email id, social media handles, or mobile number. You can also use two-factor authentication that includes SMS or phone verification.
• Search Dispensaries : Users should be able to search local dispensaries nearby them.
• Browse Strains : Users should be able to browse compatible strains and cannabis.
• Filter By Category : Users should be able to filter the strains by their categories like Indica, Sativa, and other hybrid strains.
• View Detail : Enrich your product detail page with information like benefits, ingredients, dosage and frequency of use along with other basic details like price, storage instructions, ratings, etc.
• Add to Cart : Users should be able to add multiple products to the cart and place an order for single/multiple medicines.
• In-App Payments : Avail easy app payments through credit/debit card, UPI, net banking, etc.
• Push Notifications : Once the customer places the order, notifications should be sent on order updates, offers, discounts, etc.
• Order Tracking : This feature allows the customer to track the delivery boy from his way to the customer’s preferred destination.

Pharmacy Owner App

• Store Details : A pharmacy owner must be able to add, change, update and delete the list of cannabis strains and information.
• Receive Order Notifications : Pharmacy owners should receive order notifications on new orders received from the customer and should be able to manage them in real-time.
• Order Management : Pharmacy owners should be able to streamline and automate order processing, returns, and refunds by the pharmacy staff.
• Manage Discounts : Allow them to manage custom offers, discounts, promo codes, and loyalty point algorithms.
• Price Management : Pharmacists should be able to manage and update prices for all cannabis strains.
• Ratings and Reviews : Pharmacy owners should be able to manage the ratings and reviews given by the users.

Delivery Boy Features

• Real-time Request : The delivery boy should receive a real-time request for order delivery. He can accept/reject order delivery request
• Delivery Details : Delivery boy can view details like customer address or delivery location when accepting the delivery request.
• View Map : Delivery boy can view customer location on the map with an optimized route to reach the delivery destination on time.
• Delivery History : Enable option for the delivery boy to check delivery history like total confirmed orders and canceled orders.
• Payment History : The delivery boy should have the ability to check the total payments received weekly and month wise.

Admin Panel Features

• Dashboard : A dashboard to view total received orders, total earnings, total users, and suppliers with interactive graphs and charts.
• Manage Dispensaries : The admin should be able to manage (add, edit, update, delete) dispensaries with ease.
• Manage Users : The admin should be able to manage app users with the controls of add, edit, update, and delete their details.
• Manage Delivery Boys : Admin can manage delivery boys, add, update, verify and activate/deactivate their profiles.
• Manage Earnings : Admin should be able to check the total weekly, monthly, and yearly earnings made by the pharmacy owners.
• Manage Commissions : Admins should be able to set commission rates with pharmacy owners and enable payments.
• Reporting and Analytics : Admin can check analytics and reports of all sales, revenue, new customers, suppliers, etc. and plan next actions based on the reports.
• Notifications Management : Admin can manage app notifications, messages, and emails sent to users and pharmacy owners.

Advance Features of Cannabis Delivery App

1. Showing A Huge Variety of Strains & Products

Cannabis has its existence in multiple varieties and sub-species that create hybrids and specific strains. With each cannabis strain having a different concentration of THC and other compounds, there are various medical conditions where the effects of these strains work predominantly.

Listing down all these cannabis strains (typically there are over 700 strains called as indica, sativa, or hybrid) in your on-demand cannabis delivery solution can attract a large customer base with zero bounce rates.

2. Personalized Feeds

Personalization improves user experience and helps in enhancing your app’s engagement and user retention. Giving your users personalized product recommendations, product discovery feeds that interest the user can improve the conversions dramatically.

By integrating analytics or through machine learning personalization you can help extract meaningful data that interest your users.

3. Detailed Product Description

Make your cannabis delivery app platform an ideal app for the user’s experience. Allow your users to explore the best strains and educate them on their taste and aftereffects on the body. Like what it is for, what does it cures, why you will love it, and so on!

4. Unified Search and Delivery Channels

Give your users the ability to search all the nearby dispensaries, variety of strains, products, and make the app even more wanted by providing deliveries at the time and place they want.

If you do not have your logistics and delivery team, it’s good to hire a Courier Delivery Company that can take care of pick-up and drop-offs from medical dispensary to the customer’s location.

5. Arrange a Scheduled Delivery

Cannabis or Marijuana products are sensitive drugs and shouldn’t come within reach of children or persons with non-medical history. While cannabis for Medical purposes helps in the treatment of chronic conditions, recreational marijuana is used without medical justification.

Having said that, people prefer to be very specific in delivery timings. Understanding the delicacy of the subject, giving users the flexibility to order at the time most suitable to them will add another feather to your app.

You can accomplish this by integrating different delivery slots having batch timings. Users can pick the date and time and schedule the delivery.

Best Online Cannabis Development Company to Hire

Codiant is one of the few Online Cannabis Delivery App Development Companies that integrate all these user-centric features in cannabis delivery app. For more details, tips, and tricks to enhance or develop a user-obsessed cannabis delivery app, connect now.