Cannabis dispensaries are turning to immersion retail

The impact of COVID-19 on shopping behavior is of great concern not only to retailers, but also to economists, city planners, public health officials and a whole host of other interested parties. A 2020 survey of online consumers in nine different countries by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, titled “Covid-19 and E-Commerce”, found that the pandemic has accelerated the shift to online shopping.

The survey also suggests that the shift to a digital retail world may be permanent. This news has sparked some fascinating innovations in the cannabis retail space, including the rise of immersion retailing, which aims to create all-encompassing, multi-sensory shopping experiences that draw shoppers off their couches and back into stores.

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Planet 13

Planet 13 (OTC: PLNHF) flagship store in Las Vegas recently added a new 25-meter-wide LED wall in the expanded pharmacy that showcases immersive entertainment (like lions breaking through the wall, tendrils reaching up to the Ceiling grow, and more, making for an incredible visual experience for clients).

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The pharmacy also has a Willie Wonka-style production window where customers watch food and beverages being made and interact with products on flat screens. There’s a choreographed Orb drone show above the pharmacy floor, an interactive floor in the great hallway, and a huge laser graffiti wall.

Planet 13’s store in Santa Ana, California, is the largest cannabis store in the world at 112,000 square feet, not a store in the traditional sense, but rather an “entertainment concept”. This concept includes budtender greeter / concierges, beautifully presented products and a sensory bar that invites customers for a cannabis experience reminiscent of a tour of the wine country. Future plans for the space not yet maximized include a coffee shop, pizzeria, event space, and a customer-facing manufacturing facility that provides real-time insight into the manufacturing process behind Planet 13’s products.

alchemy

Toronto-based Alchemy is an independent retailer offering a comprehensive and fun shopping alternative. It is the brainchild of former triathlete Richard Browne who envisioned Alchemy as “a museum where you can touch, feel and interact with the elements”. This is achieved in part through a playful approach to interior design that eschews the conventions of pharmacy aesthetics and instead focuses on what Alchemy’s multidisciplinary designer Paolo Ferrari describes as “a cerebral experience imbued with art, nature and technology.” From the kaleidoscopic images that are presented to the waiting guests to the flowers that are presented in tailor-made “scented balls”, the creators of Alchemy leave no stone unturned when it comes to seducing the senses and an advantage over the personal shopping experience the convenience of click-and-give numbers.

Cannafornia

One of the newest immersive retail experiences, Cannafornia features two of California’s largest consumer lounges, each 5,000 square feet on a 100 acre campus in Southern California’s Imperial Valley. The location is strategic for capturing travelers passing through Arizona, California, and Mexico. Cannafornia has two large retail stores, Queen of Dragons and The Other Guys, which carry top brands and invite consumers to sample the goods in one of their spacious lounges before making a purchase.

Global management firm McKinsey & Company attributes the shift to digital retail in the COVID era to three forces of change – economic downturn, preference shifts and digital acceleration. With consumers clinging to trusted brands, spending less, shopping less, and staying closer to home, the cannabis industry’s gamble in immersive retailing faces some significant barriers. Some industry innovators are turning these barriers into opportunities to transform the retail landscape.

This article originally appeared in the Green Market Report and was republished with permission.