The Best Way To Retain Customers
When dispensaries talk about loyalty, they often talk about discounts. But if you want to discover the best way to retain customers, you need to look beyond rewards and price cuts. Loyalty isn’t rational. It’s primal.
Ask yourself: Why do your customers keep coming back?
It’s not just because you have the lowest price on an eighth or run the most BOGO deals. It’s because they feel something—comfort, recognition, trust. True loyalty taps into emotion and memory. That’s where the real power is.
The Primal Psychology of Loyalty
According to behavioral scientists—and confirmed in reports by platforms like Mailchimp—repeat purchases are often driven by emotion, not logic. Humans are hardwired to seek out trust, familiarity, and reciprocity. That’s survival behavior baked into our DNA.
We don’t just remember what we bought—we remember how it made us feel. And we’re drawn back to businesses that made us feel safe, seen, and valued.
For dispensaries, this means one thing: If your customer retention strategy isn’t built around emotional connection, you’re leaving money on the table.
Ditch the Transactional Mindset
Points and discounts are easy. Emotion and memory are harder—but they’re what actually move the needle.
Here’s what dispensaries often get wrong:
- Generic communication – One-size-fits-all emails that say nothing unique
- Overreliance on promotions – Customers get used to discounts and won’t shop without them
- Ignoring customer feedback – Assuming you know what they want, instead of asking
The best way to retain customers is to go deeper. Create emotional anchors that turn a visit into a ritual.
Craft Moments That Stick
If your customers feel like just another number, they’ll treat your dispensary like just another option.
But when they feel seen—that’s when they come back. That’s when they tell their friends. That’s when they become your advocates.
Here are ways to create retention-driving moments:
1. Recognition That Feels Real
Don’t stop at birthday emails. Build campaigns that recognize key moments:
- Their 3rd visit? Send a thank you and bonus points.
- 6-month anniversary? Offer a personalized reward.
- Top spender of the month? A handwritten note, a surprise gift, or early access to drops.
With tools like Alpine IQ, you can automate these messages without losing that personal feel. ESBE helps clients build retention campaigns that hit at just the right moment—and feel anything but robotic.
2. Frictionless Experiences
Your loyalty program should be simple to understand, easy to join, and effortless to engage with.
- Don’t hide rewards. Make points and perks visible in your mobile app or emails.
- Streamline redemption so customers don’t have to ask.
- Reduce wait times and remove extra steps when they visit.
Retention isn’t just about outreach—it’s about experience. A smooth visit is a loyalty strategy.
3. Rewards That Feel Good
Think beyond percentages. What does your customer want?
- An exclusive experience?
- A branded hoodie?
- A new accessory or tech gadget?
Let customers choose their rewards. Better yet—ask them. Use surveys or in-store convos to find out what matters most.
Surprise and delight rewards work especially well here. Unexpected perks stick in customers’ memories. And memory drives repeat visits.
Segment or Fail
Not all customers are equal. Some visit once a year. Some shop weekly. Some only buy edibles. Others only want top-shelf flower.
Treating them all the same? That’s a recipe for churn.
The best way to retain customers is by speaking to who they are. That means segmentation.
- Frequency-based segmentation (new vs. regulars vs. lapsed)
- Product preference segmentation (edibles vs. flower vs. concentrates)
- Value segmentation (top spenders vs. budget buyers)
ESBE specializes in building custom segmentations for dispensaries, enabling smarter campaigns that feel hyper-personal.
Automation That Feels Personal
Most dispensaries are sending a welcome email, maybe a birthday note, and calling it a day. That’s not retention marketing.
Here’s what a real retention strategy looks like:
- Welcome Series: 2–3 emails introducing the brand and encouraging that all-important second visit
- Cart Abandonment: Nudges for unpurchased items
- Loyalty Updates: Let people know when they’ve earned rewards
- Milestone Campaigns: Triggered at visits #2, #5, #10, etc.
- Lapsed Winbacks: Targeted re-engagement for 30-, 60-, and 90-day absences
Each of these flows taps into timing, which is critical for emotional resonance.
If you’re not sure where to start, contact ESBE. Our retention frameworks have helped dispensaries across 14+ states generate up to 50x ROI through smart, automated lifecycle campaigns.
Train Your Team to Reinforce Loyalty
Customer loyalty isn’t just digital. Your in-store experience must reflect the same values:
- Are your budtenders greeting people by name?
- Do they know the regulars’ favorite products?
- Are they trained to explain the loyalty program in a compelling way?
You can have the most beautifully structured rewards system in the world—but if your team isn’t aligned, you’ll lose the emotional connection.
Track What Actually Matters
Stop guessing. Start tracking.
With a loyalty platform like Alpine IQ, you can:
- See how reward value impacts return rate
- Spot which customer segments respond to which offers
- Identify drop-off points in the customer journey
These insights are gold—and they’re often underutilized.
Combine them with ESBE’s strategy and campaign expertise, and you’ll not only retain more customers—you’ll turn them into your best acquisition channel.
Emotion Is the Engine
If your loyalty program isn’t creating feeling, it’s just a fancy discount engine.
Emotion is the engine of retention. Memory is the fuel. You want your dispensary to become a habit—something that feels like part of your customer’s identity.
You don’t get there with coupons. You get there with:
- Thoughtful segmentation
- Seamless experiences
- Personalized rewards
- Recognition that hits
- Surprise that delights
The best way to retain customers isn’t a secret. It’s a system—one built on psychology, powered by data, and executed with creativity.
Want to see how that looks in action? Reach out to ESBE to start building a customer experience that’s built to last.
Because loyalty isn’t rational. It’s emotional. And that’s what gives it power.
