Notes on running a cannabis store

18 September 20262 min read

Turning a restock into a message customers actually get

A back-in-stock customer who hears three days late has usually bought elsewhere already. Push notifications close that gap, sent from your store console.

17 September 20262 min read

Staff training that lives where staff actually work

A training session staff sit through once and forget is worse than no training at all. Here's what changes when training lives inside the app itself.

16 September 20262 min read

When a cannabis store also sells to other stores

Some cannabis retailers sell wholesale to other stores or bulk buyers outside the app. Here's what that needs from a system built for retail.

15 September 20262 min read

Loyalty, gift cards, and promo codes that update automatically

Punch cards and manual points don't scale past one till. Here's what loyalty, gift cards, and promo codes need to update off the same sale.

14 September 20262 min read

Stock loss, theft, and knowing who had access to what

Most shrinkage isn't theft, but when it is, what matters is who had access to the product and till at the time - and whether there's a record.

13 September 20261 min read

Staff hours and leave, tracked in the same system as the till

Shift hours and leave requested are two sides of the same staffing question, but most stores track them in two places that don't talk to each other.

12 September 20262 min read

Why cannabis brands can't buy ads on Google, Meta, or TikTok

Google, Meta, and TikTok all ban paid cannabis advertising outright, regardless of where it's legal. Here's what a store can still use instead.

11 September 20262 min read

Why you can't just build a cannabis storefront on Shopify

Mainstream e-commerce platforms restrict cannabis and CBD sales in their own terms of service, enforced by account suspension without notice.

10 September 20263 min read

Cannabis POS platforms aren't built for South Africa

Dutchie, Flowhub, Cova, and Treez dominate cannabis POS search results - built around US and Canadian compliance systems that don't exist here.

9 September 20262 min read

Compliance

Cannabis retail runs on cash - and invites scrutiny

Banks and processors treat cash-heavy, cannabis-adjacent businesses as higher risk by default. The answer is clean records, not a bigger safe.

8 September 20263 min read

Reordering stock shouldn't be a gut call

Most stores decide when to reorder by feel. The data to do it properly is usually already sitting in the system, just not being used.

7 September 20262 min read

Why a generic CRM isn't enough for cannabis retail marketing

Mailchimp bans cannabis and CBD marketing outright. Even CRMs that allow it are still a second system, asking you to sync data your till already has.

6 September 20262 min read

WordPress or Joomla for a cannabis storefront

Unlike Shopify, WordPress doesn't ban cannabis outright - but running real retail on it means stitching together four plugins that don't talk to your till.

2 September 20262 min read

Switching

How to switch POS systems without closing your store

The question behind most POS switches that never happen: how much will this disrupt trading? Here's what a changeover looks like done in order.

1 September 20262 min read

Multi-store

Running multiple stores from one system: what actually changes

Two stores is a different operation than one, even with the same owner and products. Here's what breaks first, and what a multi-store setup needs.

Cash-up and reconciliation: catching problems the same day

A same-day cash-up turns a discrepancy into a quick conversation. Caught at month-end, the same number is a mystery nobody can trace back to a cause.

31 August 20264 min read

Delivery

Delivery for cannabis retail: what's actually different

Cannabis delivery isn't just food delivery with different products - age verification at the door and licensing rules change what a delivery system needs to do.

30 August 20262 min read

What a stock take should actually catch

Shrinkage in cannabis retail comes from more places than theft. Regular stock takes are how a store catches it while it's still small.

29 August 20262 min read

Vendor & consignment

Consignment stock: how it works and where it breaks

A plain look at how vendor consignment works in cannabis retail, and why the tracking usually falls apart before the relationship does.

22 August 20262 min read

A cannabis POS vs. a general retail POS

Weight-based pricing, age verification, and consignment stock all break a generic point-of-sale system in ways that only show up once you're trading.

13 August 20262 min read

Compliance

POPIA and your cannabis store: what actually matters

A plain-language look at what South Africa's data protection law requires from a cannabis retailer handling customer and ID information day to day.

4 August 20262 min read