How To Develop A Cannabis/Marijuana Delivery App for Medical Purposes

Last Updated on January 21, 2022

The world is fast-changing and something that is condemned a day before becomes a trend the very next day. And here we are talking of the trend of marijuana and its usage. Today, Marijuana is legalized in the 33 states of the USA and various other countries, such as Germany, Israel, and Canada. It is allowed for medical and recreational usage, and this way medical marijuana is paying its way in the mainstream business.

Now even though the legalization of marijuana, there are just a few licensed healthcare institutions/dispensaries that provide the users with on-demand online delivery services for medical marijuana. In case you are looking to get into the marijuana business by creating a marijuana mobile app then in this blog, we have discussed everything from essential functionalities to the right monetization strategies, and a developmental guide.

What Are The Medical Uses Of Marijuana?

Today more and more states have passed laws allowing people to use medical marijuana. So, what is exactly the use of medicinal marijuana, who can use it? Marijuana is mainly prescribed for pain, be it for headaches, diseases like cancer, or maybe a long-term condition, such as nerve pain or glaucoma. In case the patient is living in a state where medical marijuana is legal and the doctor believes it can help, then the patient gets a marijuana card, and gets placed on a list that enables them to buy cannabis from authorized sellers, known as a dispensary. Usually, medical marijuana is prescribed to treat nausea from Chemotherapy, Crohn’s disease, Seizure disorders, etc.

Market Stats Reflecting Why It’s beneficial To Build A Cannabis Delivery App?

In the year 2020, the worldwide legal marijuana market size was valued at SD 246 billion and it is forecasted that from 2021 to 2028 the cannabis market will be expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.3 percent. The main factor that fuels its market growth is the increasing demand for legal Marijuana as today there is a large number of countries that have legalized marijuana. Keeping in mind the latest legalization in various countries, medical marijuana usage for different ailments is gaining popularity across the world. There are a number of chronic illnesses, like Parkinson’s, cancer, Alzheimer’s, and many other neurological disorders where medical marijuana is administered. And this is why the demand for marijuana is rapidly increasing, mainly among countries where its medicinal usage is legalized.

Business Models That Will Work For A Marijuana Delivery mobile app

Dedicated
As per this business model, you can get started with your own online store for Marijuana Delivery and keep the delivery under your department. This way, through a single store you will be able to earn from both the side, in the form of delivery charges and the store earnings.

Aggregator
In the aggregator model, you can build a common platform where the stores & customers can come together. Same as with eBay, Amazon, and Airbnb, here you’d be able to handle orders from stores/service providers and then deliver the products/services to the customers.

Delivery-Specific
Here you can entirely choose to be the delivery partner for the Marijuana delivery apps, and your only task is managing orders from marijuana providers and then delivering them to the customer’s doorstep.

Ultimately, you can pick any model that you desire, and largely it depends on how to are looking to monetize the app.

Effective Monetization Strategies For Marijuana Delivery Mobile App

Commission
In this monetization model, the app charges a fee on each order made via the app. This can be quite a lucrative model when there are constant sales of marijuana taking place over the app.

Featured Listing
This model provides paid promotion to cannabis vendors. Allowing them to be featured in the app by listing it over there and in return charging a fee for the same.

Advertisement Selling
In this monetization model, advertisements of cannabis-related products are run over the app and an amount is charged by the app for displaying these advertisements in the ad space chosen by the advertisers.

eCommerce Integration
This model can be integrated when the app is selling various assisted products that support marijuana consumption. As people might need equipment to consume marijuana, hence the app can integrate this mode to sell such supported products.

Which Are Some Popular Cannabis Delivery Apps?

Today there are a number of Marijuana delivery apps out there in the market and there is cut-throat competition as all of them are offering the same services. Here we have discussed a few of these apps.

• PotBot
• Leafly
• WeedMaps
• Vana
• Eaze

Now all of these major players have their individual business model for the cannabis delivery app and in the end, it is you who need to decide on how you are looking to monetize your app.

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

Advanced Features Of Cannabis Delivery App

Social Signup/Login
This functionality allows the app users to register and login into the app via their social networking accounts.

GPS Tracking
This functionality involves the integration of maps which allows the buyers to live track their order delivery. In the geolocation solution, Google maps SDK can be used.

User Verification
Prior to being able to access the app’s content, the buyer should require signing in to the app via phone number, email, or social media accounts, like Twitter or Facebook. Next, their identity can be verified via their personal ID, and the doctor’s receipt can be uploaded for medical marijuana. For this, you can choose to integrate ID.meSDK, which is a physician identity verification solution.

In-app Navigation
Integrating this feature allows easy delivery as the delivery person would be able to easily find the correct and easiest route to the go and deliver it to the user.

In-app Calling/Chat
This feature will allow the app users and delivery personnel and seller to easily communicate with each other.

In-app Doc Management
This functionality is useful to manage the documents easily within the app.

Insights & Analytics
In this app section, the admin will be able to track everything related to the app, the number of sales, orders placed, profit earned in real-time. It is an easy way to be updated on the entire app proceedings.

In-app Payments
For placing an order from the app, buyers should be able to pay via a built-in payment gateway. For this purpose, Stripe, as a payment solution, is recommended. This kind of payment gateway integration enables to receive a commission from each order.

Search weed commodities
All medicinal cannabis products can be easily uploaded in this category, allowing users to view and select the most desirable one as per their liking.

Tracking
The app users should be enabled to track their deliveries using the GPS services integrated into the app.

Doctor’s Consultation
In case a user is uncertain about purchasing a particular product or requires a doctor’s guidance, they won’t need to wait until their visit to the doctor, as online consultation makes the entire process hassle-free for users.

Push Notification
Notifications related to new products, deliveries, discounts, and news regarding marijuana can be provided to users with the use of this functionality.

Map Integration
Users require a map for locating licensed dispensaries and doctors near them and this issue can be resolved by integrating an in-app mapping feature in the app. This will also enhance user engagement with the app.

The Development Process For Marijuana Delivery App

Here we have provided the steps that the development process of the Cannabis Delivery app involves:

Analyze The Project Requirements

When you get in touch with an app development firm to create a Marijuana Delivery app, their expert members put efforts into understanding your marijuana business, customer base, infrastructure, current market trends, and other factors that are critical for your online business. And then finally along with the concerned project manager, the team is going to prepare and present a comprehensive document that consists of all your business needs.

Wireframing

Next, the team of business analysts will start creating wireframes for all concerned screens for your app. Wireframes offer a clearer picture and have an understanding of app objectives. They ensure that the app is on the right track with all of your business requirements.

Creative UI & UX Design

In the next step, the expert designers prepare app graphics, color schemes, iconography, & other design works getting along with your business theme. Here the main objective is to make the app seamlessly stand out among the other apps.

Development

The development stage consists of the app members coding the app to perfection. Here aspects like the app’s goal, the technology used, functionalities, and end-users are considered while developing the app. This ensures easy business management post the launch.

Testing

In this stage, a team of testers is assigned to test the app’s performance and resolve bugs and errors, if there are any. With the use of advanced testing tools & mechanisms, it is ensured that the app performs wonderfully at all levels.

Deployment

Once the app has been developed and tested, it is then deployed at the app stores, like Google Play Store & Apple App Store, and upload to the company server making it available to users across the world in a hassle-free manner.

Legal Aspects To Consider Before Developing A Marijuana Delivery App

It is important to keep in mind that marijuana is still illegal in a number of countries and hence before you start the business of Cannabis delivery, it is suggested to check your government policy for Cannabis.

The USA government has decriminalized Cannabis for medicinal purposes in its 33 states as well as the District of Columbia in the year 2018. In fact, Canada had officially decriminalized marijuana in the year 2018 for both medical and recreational purposes. Even the Western European nations, like Netherlands, Germany, Czechia as well as Greece have decriminalized personal usage of medicinal marijuana.

Hence, see if your government has legalized the medicinal usage of marijuana, then you surely can move ahead with your idea. However, if not, then try implementing some other business idea.

Get A License

In order to start selling Marijuana online, it is required to get a license/permission from the government. Here you are going to require getting various types of licenses for distribution, selling, or cultivation of marijuana, and this entire process is time-taking. For instance, let’s see California. Here the medicinal usage of Marijuana was legalized in 1996. It has a website “The Bureau of Cannabis Control”, where you will see various kinds of licenses, consisting of Distributor, Retailer, Microbusiness, Cannabis Event Organizers, and Testing Labs. In order to receive each type of license, it is vital to fill in around 14 documents. Here your time can be saved by you applying for a permit via their Online Licensing System. In case you’re a citizen of Canada, then you would require a license from Canadian Health Organization. Mainly, a Cannabis license has various classes & sub-classes which determine in which activity your business will fall. The major license classes consist of:

• Nursery
• Micro-cultivation
• Standard Cannabis Cultivation
• Analytical Testing
• Research
• Micro-processing
• Standard Processing
• Sales for medicinal usages

Tech Stack Required To Create Cannabis Delivery Mobile App

How Much Does It Cost To Create A Cannabis Delivery Mobile App?

There are a number of factors on which the cost of app development depends on and here we discuss a few of them, such as:

Location-Based & Hourly Charges

So, the hourly development rates for mobile app differs in various part of the globe, like USA and Canada are considered to be the most expensive regions, where the hourly development rates can be $150-$200. Then the Australian app developers tend to have a slightly low cost, i.e., $100-$150, whereas the Eastern-Europe developers have much lower development rates, i.e., $50-$100. And then in India, you can find the most affordable and skilled, and experienced development team offering on-time delivery and full-fledged services, with hourly development rates of $30-$50.

Complexity

In order to understand app complexity, it is first important to understand what are your expectations with your app and how you want the app to turn out. The complexity will depend on the number of features and the number of screens you want to integrate into your app. Hence, you will be mindfully select what you want to be added to your app.

Platforms

Depending on your business model, you can decide whether your app would be more successful on iPhone or Android. However, in case you are keen on launching your app on multiple platforms, then be ready to shell out a big sum of money.

Design & Visuals

So, app design and visuals are the first things that the users interact with, so it is advised to invest in an appealing UX and UI design so that the app has concise, clear, and consistent visuals. It can be great for a Marijuana delivery app to have a sleek and user-friendly design.

Back-End Infrastructure & App Administration

So, the back-end developers are responsible to build app functionality via coding which joins the app to a database. Here, the price increases as per the workability & difficulty of the backend system and the app administration.

Ultimately, keeping all these factors and features in mind, the cost to develop an average Cannabis delivery mobile app with basic functionalities and for a single platform should cost around $25000-$30000, whereas the cost to create a Cannabis delivery app with advanced features and for more than one platform, then the cost will be around $50000-$60000.