What’s the ideal cannabis retail experience? Not the one most people are getting today, according to Kristi Ryder, Head of Sales at PAX.
In her High Touch episode, Kristi pulled from more than a decade of cannabis retail and sales experience—from managing medical dispensaries in Colorado to leading national brand teams—to paint a picture of where dispensaries are falling short and where the best operators are headed.
Here’s what she wants to see change—and what she hopes never does.
1. Make the Shopping Experience Feel Familiar
For many consumers, walking into a dispensary is still intimidating. Between ID checks, minimal signage, confusing menus, and little to no price transparency, it’s hard to shop with confidence.
“I know every formulation, every price point, every brand—and even I feel intimidated sometimes,” Kristi said.
Her recommendation? Borrow from traditional retail. Let people browse. Make pricing visible. Use merchandising to communicate value and category fit. Replace the “what do you want?” moment with “can I help you find something?”
2. Let Brands Actually Be Brands
Kristi’s perspective from the brand side is blunt: most dispensaries don’t let brands show up the way they’re meant to. Even when brands bring budgets, activations, and materials, many retailers minimize brand visibility—often in the name of fairness.
“That’s not how people shop,” Kristi said. “You walk down a chip aisle, you know what you’re looking for—or something catches your eye.”
She believes dispensaries should empower brands to tell their stories in the store, from packaging and displays to budtender education and sampling opportunities. That’s how brands differentiate. That’s how customers learn.
3. Train Budtenders to Guide, Not Confuse
Today, many budtenders are overloaded with technical talking points and buzzwords that don’t mean much to the customer.
Kristi recalled a recent visit to a dispensary where a shopper—clearly new to cannabis—was told all about “chemical-free” extraction, CO₂, butane, and rosin, and walked out with a product that wasn’t a good fit.
“I was like, this woman probably wants a blueberry distillate. But we scared her into buying something else.”
Instead, Kristi wants to see training that focuses on how people shop, not just how things are made: effect-based categories, taste profiles, and price-based tiers that give shoppers a framework to explore.
4. Embrace “Lifestyle Retail”
If cannabis is going to become a mainstream consumer product, retail has to reflect that.
Kristi is inspired by the dispensaries giving themselves a distinct vibe—whether it’s a curated boutique feel, a medical-first philosophy, or a “farmer’s market” model. Her team also brings lifestyle elements into the experience, like the beloved PAX engraver, which personalizes each device and builds emotional attachment with the brand.
“Even if people have 10 devices, they’ll come back just to get another one engraved.”
It’s those kinds of moments—distinctive, experiential, and sharable—that elevate dispensary visits beyond transactions.
What She Hopes Never Changes
Kristi closed the interview with a call to keep cannabis rooted in the plant. While she’s excited about innovation, she doesn’t want to see the category become synthetic or over-engineered.
“We’ve moved so quickly with product development. But I hope the story continues to be about the flower. That’s what we all fell in love with.”
She wants the industry to learn from categories like wine—where flavor, region, and story still matter—and to educate customers not just with facts, but with sensory storytelling.
🎧 Listen to Kristi on High Touch for the full episode and more on how cannabis retail can—and should—evolve to meet the moment.
