Today, we are thrilled to announce the release of a ground-breaking update to the BLAZE Retail® cannabis POS system. This transformative upgrade unlocks a new level of flexibility for cannabis dispensaries with a hardware-agnostic web-based POS system. It also introduces a newly reimagined User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) designed to increase efficiency and intuitiveness for front-of-house employees.
“The launch of our new POS system is the culmination of three years of customer feedback and innovation from our product team. We understand the frustrations many operators face after their current POS providers have repeatedly failed them during high-demand periods like 4/20. To date, many have felt trapped by the costs and hassle of transitioning to a new solution. Today Blaze can answer those concerns. The new BLAZE Retail POS offers industry-leading reliability and a seamless migration path, requiring minimal to no additional hardware investments. It is enterprise-ready and designed to solve the needs of our customers today with an award-winning customer success team ready to help meet our retailer's needs of tomorrow”
Flexible Hardware Compatibility
One of the most strategic changes to BLAZE Retail was making it hardware-agnostic to reduce upfront costs and repurpose existing hardware. Purchasing hardware is a large investment and the ability to stay technologically competitive without constantly upgrading hardware is a significant cost-saving advantage.
This update was designed with scalability in mind, ensuring that dispensaries can adapt to industry trends, regulatory changes, and expanding operations without the constraints of hardware integration limitations. Additionally, a hardware-agnostic cannabis POS system makes software updates and maintenance straightforward. This agility ensures that the BLAZE cannabis POS system is always up-to-date, secure, and compliant.
BLAZE Retail® Reimagined
During the development of the new BLAZE Retail, engineering and product teams took a step back to analyze, rethink, and ideate on ways to improve the point-of-sale platform that lowers the barrier to entry and simplifies the most common tasks used to service customers.
The result is a streamlined user flow that empowers employees to do more with fewer clicks and seamless integration with a variety of new hardware options. Whether it’s POS terminals, desktop computers, or even mobile tablets, our cannabis POS system provides the flexibility to adapt to different hardware configurations.
The redesigned UI is sleek, sophisticated, and easy to navigate, providing an intuitive point-of-sale interface for both dispensary staff and customers. From faster login and syncing to improved iconography, every element is crafted with purpose.
User-Tested, Dispensary Approved
One of the most integral parts of redesigning the front-end of BLAZE Retail was running usability tests for different workflows, features, and views. The feedback from the usability tests was instrumental in optimizing the interface. It has been battle-tested in Beta and is capable of handling high-volume.
“Building BLAZE Retail with a fresh new look and feel was something we knew was necessary for the evolution of our software and brand. During development, over 500 usability tests were conducted which provided valuable feedback on the ease of use, naming conventions, and how the UX and UI could be improved. We beta-tested the new system with 15 high-volume dispensaries across 6 different states over a 2- month period to really stress-test the scalability and stability of the platform.”
Fresh Yet Familiar
While much of the core functionality is still intact, the POS has been supercharged with more customer and product data to empower employees.
Budtenders can change how they view incoming orders simply by toggling between list view and tile view. This gives front-of-house staff a way to customize how they view and accept incoming orders. Separate tabs for each order queue makes it easy to navigate between walk-ins, delivery, and pickup. The new orders view also provides useful information about each order at a glance such as the customer’s current wait time, the order source, and the employee assigned to the order.
To increase flexibility, we made it simple to start a new order, put it on hold, resume the order, or even have a different budtender claim an order with one-click. This way customers can continue shopping after the order has started and return to any available sales associate to checkout.
Reducing the number of clicks was central in the development of the new update. It is simple to void transactions and provide itemized refunds. Budtenders can quickly find a member, identify the transaction, and issue a refund or void the order. This time-saving workflow has resulted in faster checkout times and a seamless customer checkout experience.
Quick Customer Insights
Serving cannabis customers is an art. To provide the best possible service, it’s essential to understand the customer using insights from their previous purchase history. We took this concept and put it at your fingertips. Budtenders can use a customer dropdown to see when they last shopped, their top 3 purchased items, their average spend, their daily purchase limits, and any member groups associated with the customer.
This type of data is extremely useful when creating a personalized and memorable shopping experience. It’s an easy way for budtenders to upsell and recommend products similar to the customer’s preferences. Empowering front-of-house dispensary staff with valuable customer data is something that will continue to be improved in the new cannabis POS system.
Detailed Product Profiles and Filtering
Knowledge is power and the more product information available to budtenders the better they can serve their customers. The new BLAZE Retail® UX and UI makes it easy to obtain key information about products with minimal effort. The recent addition of our Global Product Catalog ensures that products have brand-verified data including product names, strains, images, descriptions, and potency. This information is just a click away giving your sales associates everything they need to recommend products.
Additionally, we’ve added a new price check feature that makes it simple to scan product barcodes to see the price of the specific SKU. This can be done at any point during the shopping experience without adding the product to the cart.
Budtenders will enjoy the intuitive filtering options that make it quick to search products by category, brand, price, potency, and product tags. If a customer expresses certain preferences but needs additional guidance, filtering can provide a selection of products that staff can recommend based on their selected parameters. There are also toggle options to filter products by in-stock only, medical only, and sales price, providing quick actions for budtenders.
Training Dispensary Staff
Turnover in cannabis retail can present challenges when new staff members are hired. The new BLAZE Retail® is designed to shorten the learning curve for new employees with intuitive iconography and easy-to-navigate workflows. Budtenders can easily make order adjustments or apply discounts, reward points, or promotions.
Front-of-house staff also have the option to enroll in BLAZE University, which offers self-guided courses on how to use the new cannabis POS. This removes the need for another staff member to train them and once they complete the courses, they receive an official BLAZE University certificate that can be added to their LinkedIn profile.
Getting Started
Whether you are opening a new dispensary or running an established multi-location retail chain, we make it easy for you to get started on the new BLAZE Retail® POS system. You can likely keep your current hardware with our web-based cannabis POS, saving you thousands on replacement hardware. Our onboarding team guides you through every aspect of the software suite ensuring staff is trained and ready to process sales. We can assist with data migration and integration configurations so you can retain your current tech stack or even add integrations with some of our trusted partners.
Schedule a demo with our team to see how easy it is to upgrade to the new BLAZE Retail® dispensary POS system. Our ever-expanding software suite consolidates the key components of your tech stack with native e-commerce, integrated cashless payments, and mobile apps for dispensaries.
