The COVID pandemic was good for some industries and disastrous for others. Although 2020 was a breakout year for cannabis, like many industries it was impacted by the constraints of the pandemic. One of the leading brands in cannabis retail with over 40 stores across the country asked us to help level up their mobile ordering process.

Situation

In the throes of the pandemic companies had to adapt. For dispensary customers this meant that a high touch in-store experience was turned into a social distanced curbside pickup model. The important interaction they had with their local “budtender” was put on hold in favor of online ordering and direct messaging exchanges. How could the online experience become more seamless yet still meaningful?

Shift

We used qualitative research tools to see our respondents’ mobile shopping experiences unfold in real time, while having live conversations with them about it. This gave us an understanding of current customers’ shopping behaviors and captured how the client might improve its online presence. 

On the other side we talked with store staff and got a handle on what their limitations were and how we could transcend them. We talked with people in the offshore customer service call center to hear about common gripes and creative workarounds. 

We constructed personas of five customer types and articulated the more nuanced factors that could be tweaked in order to make the online shopping and checkout experience better.

Solution

The research videos and analysis revealed an unfiltered understanding of the true needs, frustrations and opportunities among their shoppers. And it armed our client with the insights they needed to design a higher performing e-commerce experience. 

And now that people are back in their stores, they not only have the face to face relationship back, but their mobile solution is stronger than ever.