Native Ecom VS 3rd Party Ecom
In the ever-evolving landscape of online retail, the choice between native ecommerce and third-party ecommerce platforms is a critical decision that significantly impacts a cannabis dispensary’s online marketing and SEO results. Understanding the nuances of these options is essential for dispensaries aiming to carve a distinctive digital presence.
What is Native ECommerce?
Native ecommerce refers to a seamless shopping experience that occurs entirely on a single, integrated platform, from product discovery to final checkout. This approach eliminates the need for external plugins or third-party platforms, providing a more cohesive and controlled environment.
When customers can stay on the same site to view, shop and pay for their products, it just makes for a better experience overall. It also allows for you to control the data, and not share it with whoever else is controlling your third party setup.
Examples of third party platforms is having to use an iFrame or having to send your shop page visitors to a different domain to view your menu. Platforms like Dutchie, Jane, Weedmaps and Leafly are all examples of 3rd party ecommerce.
Those POS platforms can become natively integrated by connecting their API to your store, through the use of yet another third party agency. All in all it get’s pretty expensive, and odds are you don’t own your website or the content on it due to that agencies rules and contracts.
Platforms like Dispense and plugins like Bud Plug allow for real native ecommerce, which is way better for SEO and UX. User experience can make or break how a customer uses your website. WooCommerce allows for native ecommerce and is quite possibly the most common plugin for WordPress.
The SEO Advantage of Native Ecommerce for Cannabis Dispensaries
- Unified User Experience: With native ecommerce, dispensaries can maintain a consistent and branded user experience throughout the customer journey. This unity enhances user engagement, positively impacting the time users spend on the site—an essential SEO ranking factor.
- Reduced Loading Times: Native ecommerce eliminates the need to integrate with external platforms, reducing the number of HTTP requests and optimizing loading times. Fast-loading pages contribute to a better user experience and are favored by search engines in their ranking algorithms.
- Tailored SEO Strategies: Dispensaries utilizing native ecommerce have greater flexibility in implementing SEO strategies tailored to their specific needs. Customizing meta tags, optimizing product descriptions, and incorporating cannabis-related keywords become more straightforward, enabling dispensaries to align their content with user search queries.
- Improved Mobile Responsiveness: Native ecommerce platforms often come with built-in mobile responsiveness, ensuring a seamless experience for users across various devices. As mobile-friendliness is a crucial factor in Google’s mobile-first indexing, dispensaries can enhance their SEO standing by embracing a native approach.
- Enhanced Data Security and Compliance: Native ecommerce allows dispensaries to maintain better control over their data, ensuring compliance with industry-specific regulations. As search engines prioritize secure and compliant websites, this can positively influence SEO rankings.
- Streamlined Analytics Integration: Native ecommerce platforms seamlessly integrate with analytics tools, providing dispensaries with comprehensive insights into user behavior, purchase patterns, and other essential metrics. This data-driven approach enables dispensaries to refine their SEO strategies based on real-time information.
- Optimized Site Architecture: With native ecommerce, dispensaries can design and optimize their site architecture to enhance crawlability. Well-organized product categories, internal linking, and logical site structures contribute to improved SEO performance.
In conclusion, native ecommerce offers cannabis dispensaries a strategic edge in the competitive online landscape. By providing a unified, tailored, and efficient shopping experience, dispensaries can not only enhance customer satisfaction but also boost their SEO rankings. As the digital marketplace continues to evolve, embracing a native ecommerce approach becomes increasingly crucial for dispensaries aiming to thrive online.