This guide is general information, not legal advice.
Why a loyalty program matters
A shopper who comes back is worth far more than one who doesn't. Headset studied 1,060 dispensaries in 9 states and published the results in May 2026. It found that 67.1% of first-time shoppers didn't return within six months. A shopper who came once spent about $56 at the store over those six months. A shopper who came back spent about $316. They spent about the same per visit. The difference was how often they came.
Sweed, a dispensary point-of-sale company, looked at 2.1 million active shoppers in its data from early 2026. Loyalty members were 81.7% of them and brought in 89.4% of revenue. Of the members, 59.7% were repeat buyers, against 24.1% of non-members.
Sweed is careful to say this doesn't prove the program causes the difference, because shoppers who already come often are more likely to join. But it shows where your regulars are, and how you reach them: 81.3% of members could be reached by email, against 26.2% of non-members.
Not every store has one. In our 2026 check of 96 independent dispensary websites, 54% showed a loyalty program.
How dispensary loyalty programs work
Most dispensary programs run on points. A shopper joins with a phone number, at the counter or online, and earns points on each purchase. The store sets the rate, such as 1 point for every dollar spent. When a member has enough points, they trade them for a reward, usually money off an order, at the register or on an online order.
The loyalty software connects to your point-of-sale (POS) system, so points are added after each sale. How a reward gets redeemed depends on the pairing. With Alpine IQ, for example, the shopper picks a reward in their Alpine IQ wallet. If your POS is linked to Alpine IQ, the reward is tied to a discount set up in the POS. If it isn't, staff apply the discount by hand. Dutchie's own loyalty program can turn points into set discounts, like 100 points for $10 off, or let members spend points like money at checkout.
On top of the basics, many platforms offer:
- Tiers, where members who spend more unlock better rewards.
- Bonus points for joining, for referring a friend, or on chosen days.
- A digital card in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet that shows the member's points. Alpine IQ and Dutchie both offer one.
- Points that expire after a set time, or after a stretch with no visits.
Because the sign-up collects a phone number, and often an email address, the program also builds your text and email lists. But joining the program and agreeing to marketing texts are two separate things, as the section on getting shoppers to join explains.
What to offer members
Make the first reward easy to reach
Signing up is the easy part. In Sweed's data, only 23.9% of new members earned their first point in the quarter they joined, and only 6.6% redeemed a reward. Of the new members who did earn a point, 27.7% went on to redeem one. Sweed treats the first earn and the first redemption as the milestones to manage, and suggests aiming to get new members to their first earn within 7 days of joining. That's Sweed's suggested target, not a tested result.
A head start helps. In a well-known 2006 study, people given a head start toward a reward, like a card with two of its ten spots already filled, were more likely to finish it, and finished it faster. For a dispensary, that looks like a few bonus points for joining, or a small reward that unlocks on the second visit.
Keep discounts small
The best data we found on this is Headset's May 2026 study. First-time shoppers who got any discount came back 36.8% of the time, against 26.9% for those who got no discount on that first visit. The size of the discount barely changed that. It did change the money: shoppers who got 1% to 10% off on their first visit were worth about $193 over the next six months, against about $109 for shoppers who got 50% or more off.
Over a full six months, the shoppers who never got a discount were the most likely to come only once (85% did). Light discounts of 1% to 10% did best on every measure Headset looked at. There are exceptions. In states where products cost more, like Ohio and Illinois, bigger discounts went with better results. Headset's numbers show what happened, not what caused it, but its advice is plain: give a small reason to come back, and don't make price the main reason people shop with you.
Reward spending, not just visits
Loyalty software companies such as Cova and Springbig recommend points for dollars spent rather than points per visit. Cova, a dispensary point-of-sale company, also suggests varying the rewards, because the same flat discount gets stale. BLAZE, another point-of-sale company, suggests bonus points for things you want more of, like visits at quiet times, instead of a flat discount for everyone. These are the companies' recommendations, not tested results.
Tiers, birthdays and expiring points
We couldn't find good dispensary data on tiers, birthday rewards or points that expire. Loyalty software companies have opinions, but we didn't find published data behind them. Cova's advice is to keep tiers simple, because complicated tiers and redemption rules push customers away. A birthday reward is easy to run. Our advice is to send it a few days early, so there's time to plan the visit. If your points expire, send a reminder before they do.
Check what your state allows
Some states ban giving away free cannabis or limit how you can promote a loyalty program. Check the state rules below before you choose a reward.
How to get shoppers to join
At the counter
Ask every shopper, every visit, and keep it quick. Cova suggests asking for nothing more than a phone number. Most platforms let staff sign a customer up right at the register.
If you also want to text members your deals, that takes separate permission. Under federal rules, marketing texts sent with automated systems need the customer's written consent first, with a clear statement that agreeing isn't a condition of buying anything. An electronic signature can count. Platforms like Dutchie and Alpine IQ track loyalty membership and text consent separately. Dutchie's register sign-up, for example, can text the customer a confirmation: if they reply YES, they join the program and the text list, and if they don't, they're in the loyalty program only.
Some platforms let you require text or email sign-up before members can earn points. Ask a lawyer before you do that. The federal rules require you to tell customers that agreeing to texts isn't a condition of buying anything, and they don't say how that applies to rewards.
On your website and online menu
A shopper browsing your menu at home is easy to sign up, if your site asks. Put a sign-up form on your homepage, offer the program at online checkout, and put a link or QR code anywhere customers look, like receipts and the counter. Platforms like Alpine IQ let you set a minimum age on the form, so a birthdate under 21 can't be submitted. That checks the date someone types, not their ID.
In our study, 52 of the 96 websites showed a loyalty program, but 6 of those showed no way to sign up for texts or email on the pages we checked. Customers can read about those programs online but may only be able to join at the counter.
Signing up is only the start
In Sweed's 2026 data, more than 80% of active shoppers were already members. Sweed's report says that for mature programs, joining is only the beginning, and the bigger opportunity is what comes after: the first point, the first reward, the next visit. That's why the first reward and the reminders matter so much.
The messages that make it work
A points balance nobody knows about doesn't bring anyone back. The program works through the messages around it:
- A welcome message the day after someone joins, with how to earn their first reward.
- A points reminder when a member has enough for a reward. The reward is already earned, so the message costs almost nothing.
- A birthday message a few days ahead.
- A message to regulars who stop coming, sent automatically when someone who used to visit often hasn't been in for a while.
- A reminder before points expire, if yours do.
Sweed's report recommends using a member's points balance, tier and recent activity to decide which messages go out and to whom. In a 2025 survey commissioned by Sweed, 61% said they want to see their loyalty points and purchase history clearly across every channel.
These messages go out by text and email, and both come with rules. T-Mobile's rules for business texts list cannabis as disallowed content, even where it's legal in your state, so you need a texting platform built for cannabis. Our guides to dispensary text marketing and dispensary email marketing cover how.
State rules for loyalty programs
Few states have a rule written for loyalty programs. We checked the cannabis laws, regulations and regulator guidance in 16 states in October 2026, and found text about loyalty programs in only four: Massachusetts, New York, Ohio and Oregon. Everywhere else, the rules that matter are general ones, and three come up again and again.
- Free cannabis. This is the main hard stop. Most of the states we checked ban giving cannabis away, or ban advertising it as free, so a reward of free product is often out. Money off is often safer, but not everywhere: Ohio bars a cannabis discount as a loyalty reward, and Massachusetts bars free or reduced-price cannabis in rewards programs at adult-use stores.
- Where you can promote the program. Massachusetts bans adult-use stores from advertising loyalty programs and discounts, though the state treats a deal mentioned in person, or in a newsletter a customer signed up for and asked to get, as a personal message rather than an ad. Connecticut allows ads with a discount or other offer only in the store, through delivery or on your website. New York allows them outside the store only by email, text, mail or website, aimed at adults 21 and older.
- Customer data. A points program keeps a record of what each member buys, and some states limit that. Illinois bars collecting a buyer's personal information from a sale without their consent, and requires it to be deleted within 24 hours. Maryland requires a customer's express permission before you keep a profile of their purchases. New Jersey limits the customer information a store can keep, and Ohio requires a written policy, approved by the state, that covers customer consent.
| State | What we found |
|---|---|
| Arizona | No loyalty or giveaway rule found. Messages sent only to your existing customers, or to people who opted in and confirmed their age, don't count as advertising under the state's ad law. |
| California | No loyalty or discount rule found. Giving away cannabis or cannabis accessories as a promotion is banned, and so are raffles and sweepstakes. Ads can't offer free cannabis, including buy-one-get-one-free deals. |
| Colorado | No loyalty or discount rule found. Stores can't give marijuana to a customer for any reason, so a reward can't be free product. New state rules take effect November 1, 2026. |
| Connecticut | No loyalty rule found. Discounts and other offers can be advertised only in the store, through delivery or on your website, so ask a lawyer before you email or text one. Stores can't give out branded merchandise. |
| Illinois | No loyalty rule found. Giving cannabis away to encourage sales is banned. Personal information from a sale needs the buyer's consent and must be deleted within 24 hours, so ask a lawyer how that fits a points program. |
| Maryland | No loyalty or discount rule found. You need a customer's express permission to keep a profile of their purchases, and you can't refuse a sale if they say no. No samples to customers. |
| Massachusetts | Adult-use stores can't advertise loyalty programs, discounts or coupons, and the state's FAQ says they can't offer free or reduced-price cannabis through a rewards program. A 2026 law lets the state allow ads in stores and by opt-in email, but in September 2026 the state said the law brought no immediate change. Its loyalty program rules are now under review. |
| Michigan | No rule found on loyalty programs, discounts or giving cannabis away. Samples from brands can't be given or sold to customers. |
| Minnesota | No loyalty or discount rule found. Stores can't give cannabis or hemp products away. |
| Missouri | No loyalty or discount rule found. Dispensaries can give product away only in an approved area of the store, with each giveaway logged in Metrc, the state's tracking system. |
| Nevada | No loyalty or discount rule found. You can't advertise or offer cannabis as free without a purchase. A rule change on the state Legislative Commission's September 24, 2026 agenda would also make giving it away without a purchase a violation, but we couldn't confirm the result. |
| New Jersey | No loyalty or discount rule found. Prices can be advertised only in a printed list at the store or on a website. Stores can't keep customer information beyond what a liquor retailer would collect in a sale, so ask a lawyer about member profiles. |
| New York | Points, discounts and coupons are allowed, as long as the price stays at or above 1.5 times what you paid wholesale and tax is figured on the price before the discount. Outside the store, promote them only by email, text, mail or website. No free-cannabis offers. |
| Ohio | Loyalty programs are allowed with a written policy the state approves. Rewards can be free or discounted merchandise or accessories, but not free cannabis or a cannabis discount. Contests, raffles and drawings are banned, and ads need state approval first. |
| Oregon | Loyalty programs are allowed, but the reward must be a discount, not free marijuana (free is allowed only for registered medical patients and caregivers). No buy-one-get-one or bundle deals, and no discount that depends on buying something else. A free non-cannabis item, like a T-shirt, is fine with a purchase. |
| Washington | No loyalty rule found. Discounts can't take the price below what you paid for the product, and you can't make a customer buy a membership, or anything else, to buy cannabis. Giveaways are banned, apart from small items like matches worth under $1. |
"No rule found" means we didn't find one in the laws, regulations and guidance we read, not that none exists, and cities and counties can add their own rules. Some of this is changing: Colorado's new rules take effect November 1, 2026, Missouri is publishing proposed rule changes for public comment in November, Massachusetts is reviewing its loyalty program rules, and Nevada's rule change was up for approval in September with no result posted yet. Check with your state's cannabis regulator or a lawyer before you launch or change a program. For the rules on ads, see our dispensary advertising rules by state.
Loyalty software for dispensaries
There are three common setups:
- A loyalty and marketing platform, such as Alpine IQ or Springbig, connected to your POS. Both include texting and email.
- Your POS's own loyalty program. Dutchie, BLAZE and Flowhub all have one built in, Sweed offers its own, and Treez has a newer one. Dutchie sells loyalty and marketing together as Loyalty & Marketing Pro, and its loyalty FAQ says texting isn't included by default and comes as an add-on.
- A POS that connects to a loyalty platform. Cova connects to Springbig and Alpine IQ, and Dutchie, BLAZE, Flowhub and Treez also connect to Alpine IQ.
In our 2026 check of 96 dispensary websites, Alpine IQ's sign-up forms or code showed up on 32, against 6 for every other loyalty or texting platform we spotted combined. We're an Alpine IQ certified agency, so we aren't neutral about it, but the count comes straight from each site's sign-up forms and page code.
Questions to ask before you sign
- How do rewards get redeemed with my POS? It depends on the pairing. Alpine IQ publishes how its discounts work with many POS systems, and some pairings only support simple dollar-off or percent-off discounts.
- Are texting and email included? Texting can be charged separately. Dutchie, for example, sells it as an add-on.
- Is there an Apple Wallet or Google Wallet card? It keeps the points balance on the member's phone without sending a text.
- How do points expire, and who tells the member? Alpine IQ's documentation says members get no in-app notice when points expire, so you'd send your own reminder. It also says changing the expiry settings applies to every member's existing points.
- How does the sign-up record text consent and opt-outs? Ask to see it.
- What does it cost? Alpine IQ, Springbig and Dutchie don't publish prices, so you'll need a quote.
How to tell if it's working
Sign-ups are the easy number to watch and the least useful one. Watch these instead:
- How many first-time shoppers come back within six months. That's the measure Headset used. Across its 1,060 stores, the top 20 kept about 69% of their first-time shoppers and the bottom 20 kept about 5%, so compare yourself with stores like yours. By state, the share who came only once ran from 58.4% in Michigan to 76.4% in New York and Massachusetts.
- How many new members earn a first point, and how fast. Sweed's suggested target is within 7 days of joining.
- How many members redeem a first reward. Sweed calls that the moment members start to see the program's value.
- Members' share of your revenue. In Sweed's data, members brought in 89.4% of revenue, but those are stores that already run a program, so treat it as a rough guide.
For the messages, compare members who got a message with a small group who didn't, called a holdout group. That shows what the message added, not just who bought afterwards. Our text marketing guide explains how.
That's the work we do every month: loyalty, text and email marketing for licensed dispensaries, measured in dollars. See how we run loyalty, email and text marketing for dispensaries.
More questions dispensary owners ask
Do most dispensaries have a loyalty program?
What rewards work best in a dispensary loyalty program?
Should I use points or instant discounts?
Can I text my loyalty members?
Is a dispensary loyalty program legal in my state?
How much does dispensary loyalty software cost?
Can Green Spark Media run our loyalty program?
About the author
Matthew Dobesh founded Green Spark Media. He got his start in cannabis about fifteen years ago in a grow warehouse, harvesting, trimming and packaging product while he was in university. An MBA and a marketing career later, he's back in the industry, this time helping dispensaries grow. He's Alpine IQ certified and runs a live Alpine IQ account every day. Read Matthew's story.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Loyalty, promotion and advertising rules differ by state, so check with your state's cannabis regulator or a lawyer before you launch or promote a program. Last checked October 17, 2026.