Dispensary Halloween Promotions Tricks and Tips

We’re going to go against the grain real quick: Halloween should not be scary. Not for you, brave retailer. 

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Halloween should be smooth sailing to high sales because you’ve prepared, you’re ready for what’s to come, and you are confident that your promotions and inventory are on lock.

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So, no silly puns from us about what your Halloween sales are going to look like, other than the punny suggestions we have below on past campaigns that were successful on this holiday. 

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In this blog, we’ll cover previously successful campaign examples, the types of promos that tend to be the highest producing, and other nougats of wisdom (ok, just that one pun, we’re done).

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You Can’t Win Without Tight Inventory

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Before we talk about how to win in your marketing promotions, it’s important to discuss preparing your inventory for Halloween weekend.

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Unfortunately, many retail stores tend to massively overstock on sales holidays, preparing for an “unknown amount of customers” or assuming in general that they need a certain amount of extra items just in case.

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Better safe than sorry, sure. But in this economy, being safe also means not locking up a ton of cash on your shelves for the next 2+ months just in case.

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Using a tool like Happy Buyers, we can help buyers be both safe and happy, not sorry. Using POS data, we calculate all the run rates, sales velocity, and amount of inventory needed to meet them for buyers to make smart stocking decisions. 

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Get your buyers to take a look and see how we can get them prepared for Halloween with minimal overstocking. Share this blog or have them sign up for a sneak peek here.

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Successful Campaign Examples

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We follow all the sales data across every event or holiday such as this to see what campaigns are driving the most sales and recaptured the most customers within 24 hours of them being sent.

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• Happy Halloween from your friends here at [insert shop name]. There are no Tricks but only Treats today as we are giving away free goodies all day long with any purchase! We can't wait to see you soon!
  
  This campaign has it all: it names the holiday, it contains puns, and it provides people with a free product. What’s not to love?
  
  
• Don't let the pumpkins get lit without you! Come celebrate Halloween at [insert shop name]! View menu: [insert link]
  
  You don’t have to promise things for free to get customers in the door. In fact, using a tactical, non-cringe pun like “get lit” works as a double entendre, showing your customers that you are a real thinker.

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Promo Types:

• Most retailers run BOGO or blanket %'s off, but zig where they zag by offering 31% off - give ‘em that extra 1% off in the spirit of 10/31.
• Goodie bags - play on trick or treating with some stylin bags. Who doesn’t adore the mystery of a goodie bag?
  • A riff on this for in-person/online shoppers might be for them to "Frankenstein" their own. Maybe give a flight of 5-10 products from which a customer can build their own bag for a flat rate.
• “All dressed up and nowhere to go? Visit your local dispensary!” Some clever retailers run promos where if customers arrive in a costume, they get a treat!
  • Bonus points if you figure out how to make this an Instagrammable moment either with a backdrop for user generated content or by having your marketing person sharing pics of consenting customers to the brand IG account
• “Slashing” prices, “scary” good deals, ugh, we wish these didn’t work so well but they do.
  • Bonus points if you figure out how to make these puns cooler

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Festivities and In-Person Ideas:

• Get competitive. Not like your neighbors with all their inflatable decor. Throw a contest in your store. Here are a few ideas to choose from:
  • Customer costume contest. Pair this with the “wear a costume for a treat” promo and you have a 1-2 punch.
  • Let your customers vote on their favorite employee’s costume! Customers love seeing employees truly having fun at work, they notice
  • Help your budtenders increase their tips with Horror Movie Tip Battle Jars! 2 tip jars per register, each featuring an iconic death match between horror villains, like Dracula vs Wolfman, Frankenstein vs Creature from the Black Lagoon, Freddy vs Jason, Scream killer vs Casper the Friendly Ghost. Get creative!
• Have food trucks and DJs at your location if the space allows for it or if you’re lucky enough to have a parking lot attached to the store. Get a wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man or giant skeleton to capture the eyes of passersby.
• Get whacky. Throw a dance party in the theme of a horror movie or series. Just be careful about Stranger Things, we hear they’re a bit litigious ;)

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Other Ideas:

• Get graphic! Throughout the month of October, retailers tailored their images and emoji choices toward the spooky side.
  • For images, think cauldrons filled with gummies, infamous scary movie icons, skulls, cobwebs, and the like. Try and avoiding bleeding buds tho, that can get weird
  • Emojis in use in most of the successful campaigns: 🎃👻💀🕸️🍂🍁⚰️🕷️🧙🏽🧟‍♂️🧛🏽‍♂️👽🍬🍫
• No tricks, just treats! Retailers advertised curated product menus featuring flower strains like Candyland, Ghost Train Haze and Zombie OG, or pumpkin and blood orange flavored edibles.
• “Are you ghosting us?” - neg your customers to come in with, yes, a pun.
• “Halloweed,” “Toke or Treat,” “Burn weed, not witches” — just some more pun ideas in case you don’t tire of dad jokes

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