Why Are Online Dispensaries So Popular?

Why Are Online Dispensaries So Popular?

The cannabis market is growing by the second as the plant’s medicinal and therapeutic benefits are finally accepted by increasing numbers of governments.  Gone are the days of waiting on street corners, or saving up to holiday in more lenient European countries.  Dispensaries are springing up everywhere, and legislation is being written to accommodate for the growing market in cannabis extracts, edibles and medicinal products aside from the traditional flower and hash.  It was only a matter of time before the legal market arrived and began to develop its presence on the internet, and since it did, access to cannabis has become easier than ever before.  Internet-based dispensaries come with many benefits that can appeal to both new and more experienced consumers, and as a result we’re seeing an explosion in the numbers of these businesses popping up online.  But what makes online dispensaries so much better than those based on street corners?

Online Dispensaries Offer Lower Prices

Running a physical store comes with many extra costs.  The rent of the building from which you work and paying for the security required to protect it quickly amounts to quite a sum.  Prices for their stock rise accordingly, to allow the business to make a profit.  With online dispensaries, many of these costs are eradicated simply because it is not absolutely necessary to rent separate premises for the store, provided you have space at home.  Customers visit the store remotely when shopping online, reducing licensing fees drastically.  This lack of overhead costs allows for lower prices in the online stores, as they do not need to make as much money to cover costs.

Online Dispensaries Offer Bulk Discounts

For the same reason as above, online dispensaries are able to offer larger deals at much lower prices than can be seen in dispensaries on the street.  Because of the vast reduction in start-up and running costs for online businesses, they are able to offer far more customer-friendly price labels, and can reward customers for purchasing in large quantities, or on a regular basis.  This is particularly refreshing for medicinal users of cannabis, who until recently were forced to pay high street prices at an increasing risk to their safety and freedom.  Medicinal cannabis use often leads to the requirement of more specific strains and cannabinoid profiles, along with a much higher rate of consumption.  Now, medicinal users can order their cannabis online in larger amounts without fear of persecution from the police and undesirables, and for a much more affordable amount.  Illness can become very expensive, and as medical authorities work to classify and regulate cannabis treatments so that they can be prescribed for a variety of ailments, many people are left unable to gain prescriptions from their medical professionals.  These people benefit greatly from online dispensaries, which at least offer the opportunity for those in need to spend less money on maintaining their quality of life.

Online Dispensaries Are More Discreet

Whilst it is true that the decriminalisation of cannabis is leading to the de-stigmatization of the plant and those who use it, there remains an element of secrecy to its production and consumption.  Over time this will change, of course.  But for the moment, many continue to keep their usage on the down-low.  Online dispensaries are by far the most discreet of cannabis services – more discreet, even, than prescription cannabis.  Ordering online allows an entirely faceless experience in your cannabis purchase, and many people enjoy this.  Though the world and the attitudes of its people are changing, many continue to cast cannabis in a negative light, and online dispensaries offer a customer experience that limits paranoia for the customer if they have concerns about being ‘found out’.  Most parcels will be delivered in plain, unidentifiable packaging and in smell-proof bags, limiting the number of people who know you have had a cannabis delivery to just you, should you wish.

Online Dispensaries Offer More Variety

Due to less restrictions on space and security, online dispensaries often offer far more variety than physical stores.  Storage is much easier when a business does not have to cater for physical customers within the premises, and as such, more strains can be made available at little extra cost.  Given the structure of many online businesses, some do not even stock product themselves, outsourcing instead to numerous different vendors.  This leads to a massive increase in the amount of options available, given that storage space is dispersed, sometimes across hundreds or thousands of miles.  Medicinal and recreational users alike benefit from this variety, and are able to choose between sativa, indica and hybrid strains which number far more than the average street dealer could offer in the past.

Online Dispensaries Offer More Ways to Pay

As digital currencies become more popular and widespread, several online dispensaries are making it possible to pay for your purchases using bitcoin as your payment method.  Whereas storefront dispensaries often offer just cash or credit card as means of payment, online stores can accept debit cards, bank transfers, digital currency and other more obscure means of payment.  For security or convenience’s sake, many see this as an important benefit to buying online.

Online Dispensaries Are More Convenient

Convenience is important to many cannabis consumers who live busy lives and cannot find the time to travel to their local storefront dispensary.  Stores have opening times which must be adhered to, and are often restricted by licensing laws in the length of time they are allowed to open, or even which days.  Online dispensaries do not suffer these controls.  You can decide to buy cannabis at 3:30am, and be able to do so within minutes, with many dispensaries being able to offer next-day delivery if you want it.  For medicinal users of cannabis, this is a total game-changer.  No more must sick people drag themselves out of the house in order to collect the substance which makes their lives bearable.  With online cannabis dispensaries, medical patients can order flower, hash, edibles and other therapeutic products such as tinctures, balms and lotions with just a simple click.  Those too ill to be able to leave the house can now access cannabis without having to rely on others, and many are seeing their symptoms improve dramatically as a direct result of this more consistent and reliable access to their required medicine.