Switching systems
Switching your dispensary POS: a step-by-step checklist
How to change cannabis POS systems without closing the store: what to export, how Metrc inventory carries over, training your team, and cutover day.
Transcript
Every owner has thought about switching systems. And every owner has the same fear: starting over. With Cannavate, you don't. First, we connect your Metrc license, and your inventory comes straight from your active packages. Your customers and sales history come over too, so purchase limits count what they've already bought. We set up your registers, shelves, and vault, and your online shop runs on the same catalog. Then we train your managers and budtenders, on the exact screens they'll use every day. Go-live day. The old system goes dark, the first sale rings up, and the receipt goes straight to Metrc. And by the first Friday rush, your team isn't learning software. They're running the store. Cannavate. Switch without starting over.
Why a switch feels risky
A dispensary’s point of sale holds more than sales. It holds the customer list and loyalty balances, the product catalog, discounts, staff logins, and the connection that reports every sale to Metrc. Most of the worry about switching comes from one question: what happens to all of that on the day we change?
The good news is that the hardest part, inventory, already lives outside your POS. In Illinois, Metrc is the system of record for every package in the store. A new system should read your inventory from Metrc, not ask you to re-key it.
Before you pick a date
- Export what belongs to you. Customer profiles and loyalty balances, sales history, your product list and SKUs, vendors, and active discounts. Ask your current provider for these as CSV files well before your contract ends.
- Check your Metrc access. Confirm who holds the store’s Metrc user API key and that the account has the permissions your new system needs (packages, sales, and transfers).
- List your hardware. Receipt printers, label printers, barcode scanners, cash drawers, and card terminals. Most keep working; confirm each model with the new provider.
- Count the vault and the floor. A clean audit before cutover means the numbers your new system pulls from Metrc match what is physically on the shelves.
Set up the new system
- Pull inventory from Metrc. Active packages, quantities, and lab data come across from the state system.
- Map packages to products. Group packages under the products customers see on the menu and at the register.
- Import customers and history. Loyalty balances and purchase history should arrive with the customer, so regulars are recognized on day one.
- Rebuild your rules. Tax rates for your location, purchase limits, discounts, staff roles, and shelf labels.
Train on the real workflow
Train with your own products and a test register, not slides. Walk each role through what they do all day: check-in and ID, building tickets, checkout and limits, returns, and closing the drawer at the counter; receiving, restocking, and printing labels in the back.
Cutover day
- Choose a slow day and switch at opening, not mid-shift.
- The night before, close out the old system: last sales reported to Metrc, drawers closed, end-of-day reports saved.
- Open on the new system. Keep the old one available read-only for lookups.
- For the first week, compare each day’s sales totals with what posted to Metrc, and fix any label or product-mapping issues as they appear.
How Cannavate handles a switch
Cannavate pulls your inventory straight from Metrc, imports customers and sales history, and our team runs the cutover with you. Most stores start with a 60–90 day pilot with training on the floor, so you can measure restock time and register speed before committing.