The Benefits of POS System and Dispensary Menu Integration

Updated 03/27/19

If you’re the owner or operator of an up-and-coming cannabis dispensary that serves customers and patients, one of the most important tools to help you track your sales and revenue will be your point-of-sale (POS) system. For businesses listed on Leafly, one of the best ways to maximize store pages is to integrate Leafly menus and POS systems.

To get the full scoop on POS integration, how it can impact your cannabis business, and how dispensaries listed on Leafly can use it to maximize their listing, we caught up with Leafly’s own client success specialist James Scott, and developer Andrew Otwell.

What is POS integration?

POS systems can be integrated with a variety of other tools and functionalities. For example, POS menu integration allows a dispensary to automatically feed inventory information into a menu. On Leafly.com, POS menu integration allows a dispensary to automatically feed inventory information to their corresponding integrated menu on our site.

Please note that POS integration on Leafly only updates a dispensary’s menu. All other features of a dispensary’s Leafly profile will still need to be updated manually, but POS integration helps do away with the time-consuming task of updating a large menu.

How does POS menu integration software work?

This allows a point-of-sale system to push menu items through Leafly’s API directly to a dispensary’s Leafly menu. Once POS integration is enabled (instructions available here) you will be unable to edit your menu from within Leafly. Instead, all edits must be performed from the POS. Edits you make in the POS will be reflected in the corresponding products on the Leafly menu.

Why should dispensaries use a POS to keep Leafly menus up to date?

With a proper audit of the store’s inventory beforehand, and if a store follows strict formatting procedures when intaking new product, it will eliminate the need to focus valuable employee hours on updating the menu. For stores that struggle to keep an up-to-date menu, or for stores with a large inventory, it can be an invaluable resource to keep menus accurate for their customers. It also allows clients to use other parts of their Leafly profile that they may have neglected due to the labor of updating their menu.

What are the biggest pitfalls to consider when setting up Leafly integration with a POS?

The biggest pitfalls going into an integration come from:

1. Not performing an initial audit of a dispensary’s inventory before turning the integration on. As integration relies on data built into individual products in the POS, if any of them leave the “strain” or “brand” fields left blank or filled out incorrectly, those menu items may be incomplete or missing from the Leafly menu.
2. Not following a consistent inventory intake procedure. For example, leaving a strain field blank or mismatching the strain also listed in the “name” field can cause inaccurate data to be floating around in your POS. It is possible to fix after the fact, but again, if the goal with POS integration is to spend less time managing menus, formatting products properly the first time will eliminate costly corrections further down the line.

I have a Leafly listing and want to integrate my POS and menu. Who should I talk to?

• GreenBits
• LeafLogix
• Portal42
• Proteus 420
• Flowhub
• Krimzen
• POSaBIT
• BudBytes
• Cova
• Biotrack (via Headset)
• Dauntless
• Meadow
• Greenline
• CannaPoint
• THSuite

Can I turn it off if it doesn’t work for me?

Absolutely. You can deactivate your Leafly POS menu sync, and your menu will be left as it was when it was last modified by the POS system (but not the manual menu).

Prior to activating the sync, you can submit a request to have your menu copied. If the menu doesn’t suit you, we can revert the menu back to your original Leafly menu.

Important note: Don’t be tempted to disable the integration briefly just to make quick manual edits in Leafly (like updating a price).