Although cash continues to be the lifeblood of transactions throughout the world, there is a new wave of cashless payments on the rise — particularly for dispensary transactions. In fact, data suggests that more than 80% of general consumers prefer to make card payments rather than cash. In the US, over 75% of all consumers have direct access to a credit card, but debit cards still account for over 65% of total card payments.
According to IBM, more than 50% of businesses decided to make a digital transition amidst the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. With the advent of digitalization, there is a new paradigm shift in consumer preferences. Cashless payments also paint a clear picture of purchasing habits of consumers. Despite market awareness, there is an urgent need for dispensaries to adopt and embrace cashless payments.
Why Customers Prefer Cashless Solutions
The broader acceptance of cashless payments is inevitable. In 2021, it makes sense for dispensaries to follow the tide of new technologies that would revolve around cashless payments. With the uniform acceptance of cashless payments, dispensaries can generate more revenue and drive long-term growth.
There are many reasons why over 80% of consumers prefer to make cashless payments rather than cash. It would be fair to state that the majority of consumers want convenient and effective ways to spend money. Whether it is debit or credit cards, cashless payments cut out the need to carry cash. Cashless payments also influence consumers to spend more money on new products.
McKinsey’s Global Payments Report highlights that 72% of global transactions in 2020 were cashless. Like other industries, it is a big moment for dispensaries to move forward in the right direction. It is vital to understand that long before the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers had started to lean towards cashless payments. But outbreak managed to lead to all-time high debit and credit card payments.
Benefits of Cash Payments vs. Cashless Payments
Cash is still an essential component in financial payments and complements cashless payments. In some instances, cash does not have to deal with entry barriers that debit or credit payments face. As of 2021, cash payments offer more flexibility and have broader market acceptance than cashless payments.
It is vital to understand that cash can co-exist with cashless payment options. After all, there are states like New Jersey and Massachusetts that mandate businesses to accept standard cash payments to avoid discrimination. Cash payments also come with more privacy than cashless payments.
In cash payments, consumers do not have to worry about recorded purchase history, digital history, and exchanged date. Consumers that are often concerned about potential fraud or hacking scenario prefer to use cash to buy products. On top of security perks, cash payments cut out the digital footprint of consumers. Accepting cash payments also allows businesses to improve their cash flow.
Why Cashless Payments are the Preferred Option of Consumers
From Gen X to millennials to Gen Z, cashless payments have become synonymous with convenience and speed. With these two elements, you can understand the consumer behavior of modern consumers that prefer cashless payment options over cash.
Additionally, most people no longer carry around enough cash to make purchases. In fact, machine withdrawals from the bank have been reduced by 25%, whereas cashless payments have had an increase of 75%. The numbers tell the full story and dispensaries have to consider cashless payment options as a way to maintain market competitiveness and ensure a convenient shopping experience for consumers.
With cashless payments, dispensaries will be able to accept and process multiple currencies. Cashless payments can convert into preferred currencies for dispensaries. Customer experience has become “the key to drive growth in any business and industry, and comfortable cashless payments would allow dispensaries to improve market position and win over the targeted customers.
Cashless payments will help dispensaries expand their targeted customer base. A convenient and robust cashless payment technology ultimately serves customers. The faster the truncations, the more customers will come to purchase your products. Accepting cashless payments is an opportunity for dispensaries to expand target markets, drive more growth, and establish greater business authority.
Cashless payments also allow dispensaries the chance to collect an ocean of data in an effort to better understand consumer behavior and make logical business decisions. Automated and calculated efforts will lead to dispensaries processing transactions faster and integrating third-party solutions.
How Dispensaries Can Begin Accepting Cashless Payments
Dispensaries need to take into account the needs of their customers and make cashless payments acceptable. Tech and financial experts concur that consumers prefer more than one payment option to make the purchase process as effortless as possible. This strategy would also propel customers to conduct more businesses with dispensaries.
With multiple payment solutions, dispensaries can gain higher profits. Despite cannabis banking restrictions, American-based cannabis dispensaries can look for various debit card processing solutions. Dispensaries can leverage advanced tech tools and give customers the convenience and choice to make a cashless payment.
Like an ATM, debit processing solutions can work in favor of customers and dispensaries. Cannabis debit processing solutions have a simple and easy-to-use interface that allows customers to use their debit card and enter a PIN to process and complete a specific transaction. For dispensaries, a debit processing system serves as a cost-effective, convenient, and similar payment approach to a traditional ATM.
Since the legalization of cannabis, cashless transactions have continued to increase in popularity, and will only continue to do so. Solutions such as debit processing also help dispensaries avoid common legal issues that can arise with cash transactions that are harder to verify.
Debit processing payment solutions are a new and effective payment methodology for dispensaries to process and complete transactions. Ideally, dispensaries should seek out the services of a tested and reliable payment solutions provider such as Paybotic to accept and streamline cashless payments.
Sum Up
In hindsight, the benefits of cashless payments outweigh cash payments for consumers. Cashless payments are more inclusive and accessible than cash payments. Consumers love the convenience of cashless payments that makes the purchase process effortless.
Both cash and cashless payments have always been key indicators to understand the spending habits of consumers and evaluate economic growth. Cash payments will continue to play an integral role but cashless payment options will pave the way for heightened customer experience.
