THE GUIDE

How to reduce dispensary wait times

Five fixes that shorten the line without hiring anyone, in the order we would install them. Most of the wait in a dispensary is an information problem, not a register problem.

Map Your Floor

Dispensary wait times drop when fewer people need a budtender to answer a question and everyone can see where they stand in line. The fixes that work without new headcount: put the queue on a TV, let regulars order at a kiosk, keep the menu on the wall accurate so it answers the easy questions, and keep checkout to a name and a phone number. Seed runs these screens in 950+ storefronts.

FIVE FIXES

In the order we would install them

  1. Put the line on a TV

    A queue board that shows who is next and whose order is ready ends the "am I next?" interruptions and lets people browse instead of guarding their spot.

  2. Let regulars order themselves

    A self-service kiosk takes the shoppers who already know what they want out of the budtender line. Checkout is a first name, last name, and phone number.

  3. Make the menu answer the easy questions

    When the wall shows live prices, stock, and THC%, fewer people need a budtender to tell them what is in stock. Accuracy is a throughput tool.

  4. Pre-sell the deal

    Specials and promos on every screen mean the shopper reaches the counter already decided. Decided customers are fast customers.

  5. Keep every screen honest

    Nothing slows a line like a shopper pointing at a product that sold out an hour ago. POS sync in minutes keeps that argument from ever starting.

Seed TV screens above the counter in a dispensary

THE QUEUE BOARD

When people can see the line, they leave it.

Next up and order ready, on a TV. Shoppers stop guarding their spot and wander back into the showroom; budtenders stop answering "am I next?" It runs on the same screens as the menus, and can share one. About the TV queue board.

About the Queue Board

“It's definitely a throughput ROI … Seed screens help us process people quicker than we could without them.”

— Lauren Fontein, The Artist Tree · read the full story

Seed Touch self-service kiosk in a dispensary

SELF-SERVICE

Regulars order themselves. Budtenders sell.

Seed Touch kiosks run on the same POS feed as the TVs. Shoppers who know what they want build a cart and check out with a first name, last name, and phone number, while the counter handles the customers who want a recommendation. About Seed Touch.

About Seed Touch

Wait-time questions, answered

How do you reduce wait times at a dispensary?
Cut the number of people who need a budtender to answer a question, and let everyone see where they stand. In practice: put the queue on a TV, let regulars order at a self-service kiosk, keep the menu on the wall accurate so it answers the easy questions, promote the deal before the counter, and keep checkout to a name and a phone number. None of these require new headcount.

What is a dispensary virtual waiting room?
A screen that shows the line instead of making people stand in it: who is next and whose order is ready. Seed's TV queue board does this on the same TVs that run the menus, so shoppers let go of their place in line and browse the showroom, where the buying happens.

How do kiosks reduce wait times?
By adding a second way to order. Shoppers who know what they want build their own cart on the kiosk while budtenders handle the customers who want a conversation. The kiosk reads from the POS, so it only sells what is in stock at register prices. The kiosk cost guide covers when a kiosk is the right fix and what it costs.

Do I need separate hardware for a queue board?
No. Seed's queue board runs on the same TVs and players as the menus, and can share a screen with menus and promos. Any TV with an HDMI port and an Amazon Signage Stick or Apple TV 4K will do.

What causes long dispensary lines in the first place?
Usually not the register. It is shoppers who cannot see the menu, cannot tell what is in stock, do not know if they are next, or need a budtender for a question a screen could answer. Fix the information problem and the line shortens without changing the counter.

How fast can a store put this in place?
Seed stores typically go from signed to screens live in about a week, queue board and kiosks included. Book a demo and we'll map your floor.

SHORTER LINES

Show us your floor. We'll show you where the wait comes from.

Book a demo and we'll map screens to your layout: queue board, menus, kiosks, and promos, on your live POS data.

Book a Demo