The numbers that decide it
Email open rates in retail typically sit in the teens to low twenties, and that is for senders with clean lists. A meaningful share of cannabis email never reaches the inbox at all, because the same industry-sensitive filtering that affects SMS applies to email — often more aggressively, and with promotions tabs burying whatever survives.
Text messages get read at rates in the high nineties, and the vast majority are read within a few minutes of arrival. There is no promotions tab and no inbox backlog. The message is on the lock screen.
Response speed is the more important difference. Email drives action over days; texting drives action over hours. For a business whose customer decides at 4pm whether to stop by on the way home, hours is the only window that matters.
Cost changes the comparison less than people expect. Email is nominally cheaper per send, but cost per incremental visit is what you actually pay. A ten-dollar text campaign that produces a dozen visits beats a free email that produces two.
What email is genuinely good for
Length. If you want to explain a new product line, tell a story about a grower, or lay out a loyalty program's mechanics, email gives you the room and texting does not.
Visual merchandising. A well-designed email can showcase a dozen products. A text should showcase one.
Low-urgency nurture. Monthly newsletters, education content, and brand-building all sit comfortably in email precisely because nobody needs to act on them today.
Cheap reach at scale. If you have a large list and a low-stakes announcement, email carries it at effectively no marginal cost.
Keep email. It is a useful second channel. It is just not the channel that produces repeat visits.
Why SMS wins for repeat visits
Repeat visits are a timing problem. Your customer is going to buy again — the question is whether they buy from you this week or from whoever they think of first. Texting wins because it is the only channel that reliably reaches them inside the decision window.
It also pairs perfectly with purchase data. Knowing that someone buys the same cart every three weeks lets you send one message at week four that reads as helpful rather than promotional. Email can do this too, but the message sits unread until the moment has passed.
And it is scarce. People receive a few dozen commercial emails a day and a couple of commercial texts. That scarcity is an asset — which is exactly why you protect it with strict frequency limits and real segmentation rather than blasting.
The pattern that works for most dispensaries: SMS for anything time-bound — win-backs, drops, restocks, same-day offers, low-inventory alerts. Email for anything that rewards browsing.
Running both without annoying anyone
Set a combined frequency budget, not separate ones. If someone gets a text on Thursday, they should not also get a promotional email Friday. Two channels are not permission to double the volume.
Segment the text side hard and keep the email side broad. Texting rewards precision because every message costs money and attention; email tolerates breadth.
Use email to grow the text list. A well-placed opt-in link in your newsletter converts your most engaged readers into your highest-value SMS audience.
Measure the same way across both: incremental visits and revenue per send, not opens and clicks. Opens flatter email. Register redemptions do not lie.
Run the SMS side on a platform built for cannabis
The reason texting outperforms is delivery, and delivery for cannabis is not automatic. Cannabis Text Marketing handles the registration, content screening, consent records, and list hygiene that keep messages arriving, and builds your audiences straight from POS purchase history so precision takes one click.
Messages start at $0.025 with no contract and no platform fee. Create your account, connect your store, and run one segmented win-back against your next email send — the comparison usually ends the debate.
Frequently asked questions
Is texting or email better for dispensaries?+
Texting drives far more repeat visits because read rates are near universal and most messages are read within minutes. Email remains useful for longer, lower-urgency content like newsletters and product education.
What are typical SMS versus email read rates?+
SMS is generally read at rates in the high nineties, usually within minutes. Retail email open rates typically sit in the teens to low twenties, and cannabis senders often see additional filtering.
Should a dispensary use both channels?+
Yes, with a shared frequency budget. Use SMS for time-bound offers, restocks, and win-backs; use email for newsletters, education, and visual merchandising.
Is SMS more expensive than email?+
Per send, yes. Per incremental visit, SMS is usually cheaper because response rates are dramatically higher — a $10 segmented text campaign often outperforms a free broadcast email.
How do I move email subscribers onto my text list?+
Include a clearly worded SMS opt-in link in your newsletter. Engaged email readers convert into your most valuable SMS audience.