Key considerations when choosing a compliant POS for your Missouri dispensary
As hundreds of dispensary license applications are being written and submitted to Missouri Medical Marijuana regulators, people are wondering, “What will make my application a winner?” The simple answer: include clear and complete information that shows regulators you will run a responsible business and stay compliant.
For dispensary owners, accurately tracking sales and inventory, and reporting this data to the government is key to running a compliant business. This is a complex endeavor that—at minimum—requires a cannabis compliant point of sale (POS) system that is integrated with the Missouri statewide traceability system. However, running a successful dispensary requires more than that. Here are the key compliance functionalities your POS should include:
- Built-in ID scanning and age verification with the ability to attach medical ID information to a customer profile. Manually reviewing ID is error-prone. It also fails to establish a customer record, used to create an order and verify their Open-to-Buy purchase amount, required for the Missouri patient registry system.
- Purchase limit tools, which verify each customer in the Missouri patient registry system to ensure they have not exceeded their purchase limits. It calculates gram-equivalency of products, prohibits over-buying, and submits updated purchase amounts to METRC. Make sure your seed-to-sale POS has this capability. Just because a POS company has integrated with METRC for California or Colorado does not mean their software has the functionality, integration, and certification required for Missouri.
- Ability to receive electronic inventory manifests, perform inventory audits with automatic adjustments, and report sales to METRC. Closely managing your retail inventory and accurately reporting changes to METRC are critical components to maintaining compliance and preventing diversion.
- Dashboards, reporting and analytics. To keep the pulse of your dispensary operations and performance, you’ll want flexible and intuitive dashboards and reporting. Look for a system with real-time access to store data from any device, anywhere, with customized views of the information important to you. Reports should be downloadable to perform further analytics. Also, be ready and able to produce data extracts in case of a compliance issue and investigation – this is when data is your friend and alibi!
- Cannabis pricing management. Specific market pricing may be based overall on supply and demand, but how a business chooses to promote, discount and differentiate will vary. Your POS should have flexible options to provide discounts to particular groups, encourage loyalty for repeat visits, and run promotions for new products, brands, and categories. Analytics play a critical role in helping you test, measure, and refine your strategy to maximize profits and deliver value that resonates with your customers.
- Employee monitoring capability. Monitoring employees is one of Missouri’s diversion prevention measures. A plan to properly implement this can score you higher on your application, so look for a POS that can be integrated with security camera systems, enabling fast review of employees and transactions. It’s wise to run reports that identify transaction anomalies—especially discounts and refunds.
- Data privacy & security. The cannabis industry has attracted many startup tech companies looking to profit from the “green rush”. Solutions should be customized for the needs of the cannabis industry but should not skip data security and management best practices. Cova Software uses the advanced infrastructure of an enterprise retail software leader. We have the most sophisticated data protection in the cannabis market, built on a platform that handles more than $16 billion (200 million transactions) every year.
Verify your software provider is certified by data industry organizations (e.g., PCI, ISO) and has logging capability for monitoring all systems access and system changes. They should be SSAE18 and PCI-DSS level one complaint, which means they undergo third-party audits on internal process, change management, physical security, personnel backgrounds, and data infrastructure security.
- Reliability and uptime. Look for company with a proven record and high Service Level Agreement (SLA). If your system is down and unable to submit required compliance data, you will not be able to process sales, not be compliant, and will create a very negative customer experience.
- Support & training. The cannabis industry is complex and constantly changing. You need a POS company that won’t just sell to you and disappear. You’ll want training, ongoing support, and confidence that your software provider has the resources to address your needs in a prompt and professional manner.
- User experience & flow. Software that simplifies sales and inventory management helps reduce errors and increase efficiency, allowing dispensaries to simplify compliance, streamline operation, and enhance customer experience.
Choosing the right compliant POS is critical for your dispensary success. There’s no shortage of seed-to-sale software, loaded with features you don’t need, but lacking the support you do. Don’t settle for anything less than a proven, professional technology partner, dedicated to reliability, security, and protecting your license and investment.
Ted VanDeburg is VP of Sales for Cova Software. He has spent 20 years developing retail operations and technology solutions, collaborating with merchants to grow their business and improve productivity through sales, merchandising and loss prevention data analytics.