How to Develop a Cannabis/Marijuana Delivery App for Medication?
The world is speedily changing and things that were condemned in past have become trends now. This change includes the usage and trend of Marijuana. Nowadays, Marijuana has been legalized in various states of various countries such as the US, Canada, Germany, Israel, etc. Statistically, legal cannabis sales would amount to $24.07 billion in the United States alone by 2025.
Marijuana is permitted to utilize for both recreational and medical usage. Therefore, this is the way through which medical Marijuana is emerging in the mainstream business.
However, even after the legalization of Marijuana in various countries, the number of licensed dispensaries or health care that offer the on-demand online delivery of medical Marijuana to the users — is still very limited.
If you are opting to start the business of Marijuana and want to develop a Marijuana delivery app, then keep reading this blog. Here you would find a thorough discussion about everything starting from the appropriate monetization strategies to the essential functionalities, and also the developmental tactics.
The reason why it’s advantageous to develop a Marijuana delivery app:
Market Statistics of a Marijuana delivery app
According to the market research report of 2020, the size of the global Marijuana market was valued at 246 SD billion. The global forecast from 2021 to 2028, assumes that the Marijuana market would further expand and the CAGR or compound annual growth rate would be no less than 14.3%.
The major driver that promotes the market growth of medical Marijuana is the rising demand for this product in various countries that have legalized the consumption of Marijuana for both recreational and medical purposes. The consumption benefits of medical marijuana to treat various health-related ailments are gaining worldwide popularity.
There is a good number of chronic illnesses, such as cancer, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, and various other neurological disorders can be treated by using medical Marijuana. And, this is the cause of the rapid increase of On-demand app development companies for developing Marijuana delivery apps, mainly among those countries that have legalized its usage.
Important business models that can be followed for developing an efficient Marijuana delivery app
The number of smartphone application users is rapidly increasing and therefore various large, moderate, and even small companies prefer to develop a highly efficient app for their business growth. Business organizations usually prefer to avail themselves of the Marijuana app development services from those companies that offer trustworthy business app models.
Nowadays, various Marijuana delivery applications present a wide variety of methods to earn revenue. However, to utilize this thing appropriately, it is crucial to select the most effective business models to develop a Marijuana Delivery App.
There are numerous ways you can choose to monetize your Marijuana delivery app. Following are some mobile business models that you can select to earn profit:
1. Delivery-specific business model
By applying this business model you can completely decide to be the delivery partner of the Marijuana delivery applications. Here, your only task is to manage the orders from various Marijuana providers and then delivering those products to the clients.
2. Peer-to-Peer Model
This is one of the most straightforward business models. Here, the person who would do the delivery of medical Marijuana would have to exchange the product or the service directly with the clients. In this business model, your app would connect the Marijuana providers and the clients directly and the actual handling of the product would be left up to the provider and the client involved in the specific transaction. Here, you can generate revenue by charging the Marijuana providers a percentage of their transaction, adding to the fee for utilizing your application.
3. Dedicated business model
According to this business model, you can begin with your online store for the delivery of medical Marijuana and here the delivery service also would be kept under your department. In this way, via a single store, you can earn from both the store earnings and also in the form of delivery charges.
4. Business-to-consumer model
If you follow the B2C or business-to-consumer model to develop a Marijuana Delivery App, then your clients can skip the line and order ahead from the application. They would be able to pay for their specific orders and they can have their medical Marijuana orders delivered to their offices or home by any of the on-demand delivery drivers. Here, you can partner with any of such on-demand delivery driver services.
5. Aggregator business model
In this model again your app would perform as a common platform where both the stores and customers can come together. Unlike the Peer-to-Peer business model, here you would be able to handle the orders from different Marijuana providers and stores and then can deliver the medical Marijuana to the clients.
6. Business-to-Business model
Through this model, your app would cater to the companies, rather than the customers. Here, you would sell the Medical Marijuana in bulk to another company; hence you won’t need a huge volume of customers to earn profit. Hence, you would be able to earn money faster.
7. Subscription model
With this particular model, your Marijuana delivery application would offer the customers an unlimited number of medical Marijuana deliveries for a specific monthly subscription fee. The business growths that can be earned from this model depend on both the number of clients who are eager to subscribe to your app and also how frequently they subscribe to avail of the unlimited delivery service.
Effective monetization strategies to be utilized for developing a profit-making Marijuana delivery app
The monetization strategies are very important because commonly most of the delivery apps charge no amount for installation. Therefore, the business models utilized by the On-demand app development companies are adjusted efficiently to account for the same.
Therefore, as a developer, you would have to shift the revenue model of your app to generate money after installation. It’s important to take the time to develop an application that makes sure the following things happen:
- Your Marijuana delivery app generates growing profit.
- You keep your customers and the experience of the customers relatively intact.
Following are the 6 popular Marijuana delivery app monetization strategies that would result in greater engagement with the customers and also app growth:
1. E-commerce integration strategy
This model can be specially integrated when your app is selling various Marijuana assisted products that support the consumption of Marijuana. As the consumers might require equipment for the consumption of medical Marijuana, therefore your application can also integrate this monetization model to sell several of such supported products.
2. Commission strategy
Via this monetization strategy, your app would charge a fee for each order made by the customers utilizing the app. Various on-demand app development companies use this lucrative strategy because here constant sales of medical Marijuana can be performed over the app.
3. Featured Listing strategy
Via this model, you can offer the paid promotion to medical Marijuana vendors. By listing, you can permit them to be featured in your app and you would charge a specific fee for the same.
4. In-app advertising strategy
This strategy removes the barrier for the developers to pay upfront for external advertisement. As a developer, you can use the advertisements inside your app to attract a large consumer base and to gather enough information about them. This strategy would further help you to produce highly targeted ads for medical marijuana consumers.
5. Partnership and sponsorship strategy
The sponsorship strategy implies the collaboration with various advertisers who would provide rewards to the users of your mobile application when they would complete some specific in-app actions. This strategy assumes that the user base of your Marijuana delivery app is huge enough to attract various brands to pay for their greater exposure to your clients.
On the other hand, the partnership strategy implies that you would have to collaborate with another app whose client base is similar to your own app. This strategy would be mutually advantageous that would aid each of you to improve the app offering and further attract more Marijuana consumers.
10 health benefits of Medical Marijuana
Marijuana can be found in numerous forms, and the health benefits that it offers are ever rising. Medical marijuana utilizes the Marijuana plant or chemicals present in the plant to treat various health conditions and diseases. Recreational Marijuana and Medical Marijuana are basically two same products that have different usage.
There are more than 100 unique chemical ingredients present in the Marijuana plant and these ingredients are called Cannabinoids. Each one of these cannabinoids has its unique effect on the human body. The CBD or Cannabidiol and the THC or tetrahydrocannabinol are the major chemicals that are utilized to prepare Medical Marijuana. Moreover, THC produces the “highness” that most people feel when they eat foods that contain Marijuana or even smoke it.
However, statistics show that 1 out of 10 marijuana users can get addicted to this use carefully and in prescribed amounts only.
Consumers can avail the following health advantages of medical Marijuana that are sold by the Top marijuana delivery apps:
Chronic pain relief –
The Marijuana plant contains hundreds of different chemical compounds. Many of these compounds are Cannabinoids. These cannabinoids, due to their chemical makeup, have been linked to providing absolute relief from chronic pain. Medical Marijuana contains these Cannabinoids and this is why the by-product of Marijuana such as medical Marijuana is generally used for chronic pain relief.
Improvement of lung capacity –
Unlike the practice of smoking cigarettes, the consumption of medical Marijuana sold by the Top marijuana delivery apps, protects your lungs from any kind of harm. Moreover, according to various studies, Marijuana helps to increase the lungs’ capacity rather than causing any harm to it.
Regulation and prevention of diabetes -
The cannabinoids present in Medical Marijuana have a significant impact on the insulin present in the human body and thus can prevent and regulate diabetes. The AAMC or American Alliance for Medical Cannabis has researched and proved that the medical Marijuana or the cannabis present in medical Marijuana is extremely beneficial to stabilize the levels of blood sugar, improves blood circulation, and lowers blood pressure.
Treatment of depression –
Depression is fairly spreading in this world without even conscious realization of the people who are already suffering from it. The various endocannabinoid compounds present in medical Marijuana are extremely helpful for stabilizing the moods that can eliminate depression.
Weight loss –
One of the greatest benefits of Medical Marijuana is that its consumption prevents the tendency to gain overweight. As cannabinoids are linked to the regulation of insulin present in the human body, thus it helps the body to efficiently manage caloric intake.
Fights cancer –
Another biggest advantage of consuming medical Marijuana is its link to battling Cancer. There is a significant amount of evidence that proofs that medical Marijuana helps to fight at least certain types of Cancer.
Treats Glaucoma –
Glaucoma is a disease that results in extra pressure on the eyeball which is absolutely painful for individuals who are suffering from this eye-related disorder. Medical Marijuana aids to reduce the additional pressure applied on the eyeballs by offering some temporary relieves to the patients suffering from Glaucoma.
Helps people who’ve ADD/ADHD –
Individuals who have either ADD or ADHD have trouble concentrating on various tasks at hand. Generally, they have issues with focusing on works and also cognitive performance. Medical Marijuana helps them to concentrate. Also, it’s a more secure alternative for consumption than Ritalin and Adderall.
Relief from Arthritis –
Medical Marijuana is also used for preparing balms and creams and is used by individuals suffering from serious symptoms of Arthritis. All the ingredients present in Marijuana helps to deal with chronic pain.
Relief from multiple sclerosis –
Multiple sclerosis is a disease that can have very painful symptoms and Medical Marijuana sold by the Top Marijuana delivery apps, is known to provide relief from this pain. The painful muscle contractions caused by multiple sclerosis can be reduced by consuming Medical Marijuana.
Extensive Features of Marijuana delivery app
With the COVID-19 scenario, the business strategies have changed overnight. Nowadays, consumers want to avoid any sort of contagion. That’s the reason why the necessity to develop a Cannabis delivery app is rapidly increasing. By using the app, the customers can order medical marijuana online from the comfort of their office or home and can get it delivered to their preferred location.
To boost your business endeavor, the following are some specific features that you must add to your Marijuana delivery app:
1. Registration and profile creation with personal information
The registration procedure is one of the foremost features to avail customer interaction through your delivery app. Therefore, you must make sure that the procedure of registration is uncomplicated so that your customers would choose to complete this. Hence, allow your users to finish their registration to your app via their social media accounts.
Also, via the feature, allow them the options so that they can customize their profile according to their preference. This registration and profile creation feature must have a strong and safe back-end so that it can securely keep the user’s information.
This feature would also help you to undergo user verification before they can access your app’s content.
2. Smart listing of Medical Marijuana
After registering to your app, the users would look for the products or the sellers. When they would immediately find what they want, the way to place the order would be quicker. Therefore, to develop a Cannabis delivery app, you must add a smart list of the available products.
You can organize the list based on location, type of products, products offered by diverse vendors, customer preferences, etc. Statistically, 43.6% of users prefer marijuana flowers, 9.8% prefer concentrates, 16.6% vapour pens, 9.6% prefer edibles, and 9.6% prerolls. Make sure to provide and list all of these types categorically in the app.
For the creation of the best listing, you would have to research the preferences of your customers and you would have to make it as simple as possible for the users to find their desired product.
3. Product reviews
Your customers must also be able to see the previous reviews of their chosen products while ordering medical Marijuana. The product details like the ingredients used to manufacture the medicine, the location of the seller, the pricing - everything must be mentioned. This feature would help your customers to conclude the order procedure and also to choose the right product.
4. Adding medical Marijuana to the cart and scheduling the orders
When your users would find their preferred product, they would want to add those selected items to their cart. Moreover, the users can also prefer to order medical Marijuana from more than one seller. Therefore, the cart feature is important. It would allow the users to instantly place the order, without placing numerous orders from more than one seller.
Another essential feature that must be present in your Marijuana delivery app is the scheduling of the orders. It would allow your customers to enjoy the convenience of ordering the medical Marijuana and getting that delivered at their preferred time. Moreover, during the pandemic scenario, contactless delivery of medical marijuana can be highly beneficial for your customers.
5. Easy payment methods
As an app owner, one of the most crucial features to be added to Develop a Cannabis Delivery App would be easy payment methods. When the payment procedures are simple and secure, it would attract more customers to your app. For this, you can select to incorporate all mobile wallet services and payment gateways. These payment options would offer a wide range of choices to your consumers. Moreover, you can provide vouchers or promo codes.
6. Real-time tracking
Via this feature, your users would be able to track the progress of their product’s delivery in real-time. Therefore, this correct estimation would reduce their anxiety about waiting for the delivery.
7. Rating the medical Marijuana
The rate and review feature is greatly used and liked by the consumers. Therefore, you must add this incredible feature so that they can share their product experiences with other customers and those customers can get benefitted from this review.
8. In-app chatting/calling
This feature would allow the sellers, app users, and also delivery personnel to easily communicate with each other via a common platform.
9. Push notifications
By adding this feature to your app, you can provide notifications about the newly arrived products, discounts, news related to medical Marijuana, and delivery updates.
10. Doctor’s consultation
If a user is confused about buying a particular medical Marijuana product and needs a doctor’s suggestion, then with this feature on your app, they won’t require to physically meet a doctor and ask for a consultation. They can avail of the online consultation immediately via the app and it would make the entire procedure absolutely hassle-free for your users.
Step-by-step Procedure to Develop a Marijuana delivery app
The rise of online delivery apps is the very cause why every type of business irrespective of the service or product is opting to develop an application. Here are the step-by-step procedures to develop an efficient Marijuana delivery application:
Step — 1: Analysis of the project needs
To develop a Marijuana delivery app, first, you should contact experts who would put effort into comprehending your customer base, latest market trends, Marijuana-based products, infrastructure, and various other factors that can be complicated for your online delivery app. The team of experts would present to you an understandable document that would include all sorts of your app requirements.
Step — 2: Creating wireframes
Once, the business requirements are examined, you, with the help of the experts would create the wireframes of all the concerned screens of your Marijuana delivery app. This would offer a more prominent understanding and picture of the goals that you want to achieve through your app. You would have to make sure that the application is on the correct track with all of your business needs.
Step — 3: Creative designation of UX and UI
In the next step, you, with the help of expert designers would prepare the iconography, app graphics, color schemes, and various other design works for your app that would complement the theme of your business. This step would help your delivery app to easily stand out among other delivery apps in the market.
Step — 4: App development
This is the most important step that includes the effort of the app members who would do the coding of your app with immense perfection. Here various aspects such as the goal, functionalities, technology, and end-users of the app are considered during the development procedure. This step would ensure seamless business management after the launch of the app.
Step — 5: Testing app performance
In this step, you and a team of expert testers would test the performance of the apps and would resolve the errors and bugs present in the app. With the utilization of advanced mechanisms and testing tools, you would be able to make sure that your delivery app would perform excellently at any level.
Step — 6: Deployment at the app stores
After completing all the above-mentioned steps, you would have to deploy your Marijuana delivery app at the app stores such as the Apple app store and Google Play store. You would also have to deploy the app to your company server. Also, you would have to make sure that the app is available for worldwide users in a seamless manner.
Along with all these, some legal aspects must be kept in mind while selling or delivering Marijuana through your online app. It’s important to check the government policies and it is also necessary to get permission/license from the government.
General Features Of Cannabis Delivery App
Consumer Panel
- User Registration
- Locate Nearby Dispensaries
- Explore Strains, Products
- Simple Verification
- Easily Order
- Track Shipment & Delivery Boy
- Call Driver
- Ratings And Review
- Find A Doctor for a Cannabis dosage prescription
- Make Appointment
- Live Status of delivery boy
- Multiple Payment
Cannabis Store Panel Features
- Sign up/Login
- Update Profile
- Manage products
- Check Orders
- Order Management
- Check Earnings
- Order history
- Send Invoice
- Call Deliveryman
- Settings
Delivery Boy Panel Features
- Set availability
- Accept order
- Check Map for delivery location
- Accept COD payments
- View reviews and ratings
- Call customers
Admin Panel Features
- Dashboard
- Complete Management
- Create Bookings on Demand
- Manage Payments
- Push Notifications
- Reporting and Analytics
Tech Stack Required To Develop Marijuana Delivery Mobile App
For Payments- Stripe & Braintree, PayPal
For Android- Java, Kotlin, FCM, Retrofit, Oreo API
For front-end web server- NGINX, Xampp
For iOS- Swift, Xcode, Moya
Programming Languages- Go, Java, C, C++, Python, and Node.js
For searching and visualizations- Elasticsearch, Logstash, and KibanaOtherPostgreSQL, Riak, Cassandra, Hive, MapReduce, HDFS, Elasticsearch
How Much Does It Cost To Develop a Cannabis Delivery App?
Your app development cost may vary depending on your location, the complexity of your app, the visuals and designs you would add, the platforms you would choose for deployment, the number of administrators or back-end developers that you would hire, etc. Therefore, keeping all these features and factors in mind, you can develop an efficient online Marijuana delivery app with extensive functionalities and platform should cost around $20000-$30000.
