How to start texting your dispensary customers
Launching SMS at a dispensary is a short list of steps, not a project. Most stores go from zero to a first revenue-producing campaign inside a week — here's the order to do it in.
Six steps, about a week, one campaign that pays for itself.
The mistake almost every store makes on day one is importing every phone number in the POS and blasting a discount. It feels like the fast path and it's the reason so many programs stall: unpermissioned contacts create risk, an untargeted blast produces opt-outs, and the owner concludes texting doesn't work for their store. Doing it in order costs a few extra days and produces a channel that keeps earning.
The real sequence is boring and reliable. Get a registered number so carriers deliver your messages. Connect the POS so you know what people buy. Separate the contacts you have genuine consent for from the ones you don't, and start collecting proper opt-ins at the register — that single habit is what turns a few hundred subscribers into a few thousand over a season. Then send one small, relevant campaign and look at what it earned before you scale anything.
After the first campaign works, the job shifts from sending to switching flows on: a welcome series for new opt-ins, a post-visit follow-up, a win-back for regulars going quiet. Consent capture, age-gating, quiet hours, and opt-out handling are enforced automatically at every step, so getting started doesn't mean taking on compliance homework.
Built for cannabis, not generic retail.
A clear launch order
Six steps from account creation to a first campaign, with nothing you have to figure out yourself.
Your POS does the work
Customer records and purchase history import automatically, so the first send is already targeted.
Consent captured properly
Age-gated, timestamped opt-in records collected at the register and stored for you.
First campaign in days
Start with one segment and one relevant message rather than a full-list blast.
Know what it earned
Revenue per message and per segment from campaign one, so scaling is a decision not a guess.
Nothing to learn about rules
Quiet hours, banned words, frequency caps, and opt-outs are enforced on every send by default.
The launch sequence, in order.
Step 1 — Register your sending number
Cannabis messaging runs on registered 10DLC numbers. Registration is submitted for you during setup and clears in a few business days; you can prepare everything else while it processes.
Step 2 — Connect your POS
Linking Dutchie, Blaze, Treez, Flowhub, or your existing system brings over customer records and purchase history, which is what makes your first send relevant instead of generic.
Step 3 — Sort your existing list by consent
Only contacts with express written opt-in can be messaged. Import the ones that qualify, hold the rest, and re-permission them in store rather than risking the whole program on a bad list.
Step 4 — Turn the register into an opt-in machine
One scripted line from the budtender, a keyword on the receipt, and a small counter card. This is where the majority of subscribers come from at every store that grows quickly.
Step 5 — Send one small, relevant campaign
Don't open with a blast. Pick a single segment — say, flower buyers who visited in the last 60 days — and text them about a restock or a specific reason to come in this week.
Step 6 — Read the result, then automate
Check revenue per message and opt-out rate. Once one campaign works, switch on the welcome, post-visit, and win-back flows so the same result repeats without anyone scheduling it.
Questions buyers ask before booking.
How long does it take to start texting customers?+
Most dispensaries send their first campaign within a week. The only waiting period is 10DLC number registration, which typically clears in a few business days.
Can I text the phone numbers already in my POS?+
Only the ones with express written consent to receive marketing texts. Import those, and re-permission the rest in store — it protects the program long term.
What should my first campaign be?+
A single segment and a genuinely useful message: a restock in a category they buy, or a specific reason to visit this week. Skip the full-list discount blast.
How do I get customers to opt in?+
At the register. One scripted ask from the budtender plus a keyword on the receipt outperforms every other opt-in source at nearly every store.
Do I need a compliance consultant to start?+
No. Age-gated consent, quiet hours, banned-word screening, and opt-out handling are enforced by the platform on every message.
What does it cost to get started?+
There's no setup fee or contract. You pay per message, starting at $0.025 per SMS.
Step one takes about two minutes.
Create your account, connect your POS, and we'll handle number registration while you build the list. No contract, no setup fee — from $0.025 per text.