With seasonal shifts in customer demand and evolving product trends, spring is the perfect time to refresh your store and optimize your inventory, bring in the best CBD products and fine-tune your CBD inventory management strategy.
In the name of efficiency, we’ve put together a checklist to guide you through optimizing your CBD inventory, ensuring you’re well-stocked with the best products to meet the changing demands of the season.
In this blog, we’ll go over:
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Spring cleaning for retailers: what’s different for CBD?
CBD retailers face unique inventory management challenges that are distinct from those of traditional retailers.
Regulatory compliance is always changing
Unlike most retail products, CBD products are subject to a complex and evolving regulatory landscape. This includes varying state and federal laws regarding labeling, THC content, and product claims.
Retailers must meticulously track Certificates of Analysis (COAs) for each batch of CBD products to ensure compliance with legal THC limits and verify product purity. This requires a level of documentation and tracking that retailers in other industries don’t need to manage. Failure to comply with regulations can result in fines, product recalls and damage to the retailer’s reputation.
Plus, a product that was previously legally clear may now have stricter regulations, and new products may now be free to have a space on shelves. Spring inventory optimization needs to account for those shuffles.
CBD products require more careful storage
CBD inventory, especially those containing natural ingredients like oils and tinctures, can have a limited shelf life and are sensitive to storage conditions. Retailers must be vigilant about tracking expiration dates and implementing proper storage protocols to prevent product degradation. This includes controlling temperature, humidity and light exposure.
Expired or degraded CBD products can lose potency or become unsafe for consumption, leading to customer dissatisfaction and potential health risks. During a spring inventory refresh, employees must identify expired products and dispose of them in legally compliant ways.
It’s harder to advertise CBD inventory
CBD retailers face significant restrictions on advertising and marketing their products. This can limit their ability to promote specific inventory items and drive sales, which means CBD retailers can struggle with clearing out inventory.
Retailers must find creative ways to showcase their products while adhering to marketing restrictions. This may involve focusing on in-store displays, educational materials and word-of-mouth marketing.
Inventory management technology can be a struggle
CBD retailers have to deal with unique challenges when it comes to payment processing and inventory management. Many traditional banks and payment processors classify CBD as a high-risk industry due to ongoing regulatory uncertainty, leading to frequent account shutdowns, higher transaction fees and limited access to reliable payment solutions. Some POS systems won’t integrate with high risk payment processors, which means CBD retailers can feel like they need to choose between integrated payments (which are safer) and robust inventory management.
But without a comprehensive inventory management system, retailers may struggle to prevent stockouts of popular items or avoid excess inventory of slower-moving products. That’s why choosing POS and payment systems that embrace high risk retail, like Lightspeed, is so important.
Your CBD retail spring cleaning inventory checklist
1. Audit your current CBD inventory
Start with a full inventory audit to see what’s selling, what’s not and what needs replenishing.
- Perform a physical count of all CBD products, including inventory stored in different locations (warehouse, storefront, etc.)
- Identify expiring or outdated stock and mark it for clearance or promotions
- Check compliance—ensure all packaging, labels, and product descriptions meet current CBD regulations
Stock counts are only as reliable as their method of counting, and even the most accurate employees can trip up when counting manually.
To avoid human error and get real-time insights into inventory levels, cut out some of the steps—namely, the steps between counting and manually inputting the results in your POS. Use a tool like the Lightspeed Scanner app to instantly update inventory levels as employees count.
2. Analyze sales trends and adjust inventory mix
Spring is a time for new trends—don’t let your CBD store fall behind. Take a few moments to make sure your inventory is backed up by sales data.
- Analyze your sales data to identify trends, popular products and customer preferences
- Adjust your inventory levels based on your sales analysis. Increase stock of popular products and consider discontinuing or reducing stock of slow-moving items
- Set reorder points to ensure you always have enough stock of your best-selling CBD products
- Order new seasonal CBD products, like sunscreen, topicals and drinks
Top Lightspeed reports for optimizing your inventory
| Report | What it tracks | How it helps CBD retailers |
| Dusty Inventory | Identifies products that haven’t sold within a set time period. | Helps you pinpoint slow-moving CBD products to mark down, bundle or replace. |
| Recently Out of Stock with Sales | Shows products that were out of stock, but had sales before running out. | Identifies missed revenue opportunities and helps ensure popular items stay consistently stocked. |
| Sales by Category | Breaks down sales by product category, brand or type. | Reveals top-performing categories (e.g., CBD edibles vs. skincare) to guide smarter purchasing. |
Tip: you can schedule these reports to automatically run monthly so you always have up to date inventory data on hand.
3. Clean and organize your displays and shelves
Disorganized shelves slow down sales and create inefficiencies. Spring is the perfect time for a refresh.
- Declutter shelf and display areas. Remove expired or damaged products discovered in your inventory audit
- Organize products by category, potency or brand for easier access
- Refresh in-store displays to highlight seasonal CBD products and bestsellers
- Evaluate your current shelf layouts and identify any areas for improvement
- Identify any damaged shelves or displays and make a plan for repair or replacement
4. Reorganize your back room and storage system
Just like the sales floor, there’s a good chance your back room could use a refresh.
- Remove all products and boxes from storage shelves and wipe them down
- Reorganize shelves based on demand, so products that sell faster are the easiest to get to—use warehouse slotting principles
- Properly dispose of expired or damaged products in accordance with local regulations
5. Update your CBD ecommerce site
Now that you’ve tackled your physical locations, your online store also likely needs a seasonal update.
- Make sure any new additions to your inventory are highlighted on your home page
- Ensure product listings are accurate, compliant and visually appealing
- Feature your best selling CBD products in seasonal promotions
6. Refresh your staff’s product and inventory management knowledge
A well-trained team boosts customer satisfaction and prevents inventory mishaps.
- Educate staff on any new CBD products and regulatory changes
- Set up a cycle counting schedule to keep on top of inventory changes throughout the year
- Ensure you have role-based permissions to prevent unauthorized inventory adjustments
- Train employees on how to improve inventory management using tools like Lightspeed Scanner
7. Boost customer loyalty with targeted promotions
Spring cleaning isn’t just about inventory—it’s about building better customer relationships as well. Armed with your data and refreshed shelves, reach out to customers to encourage them to come back.
- Run a CBD spring sale to clear out old stock
- Advertise temporarily increased loyalty rewards for frequent CBD buyers
- Use email marketing to announce new spring arrivals and promotions
Setting up new email marketing campaigns for your CBD store? Speed is the key
CBD retailers have a lot of restrictions on their marketing, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do any—most CBD stores can run email marketing campaigns without running into too many compliance issues.
Sunmed, Your CBD Store, uses Lightspeed to email new customers right away. With Lightspeed connecting them to transactional data from franchise locations, Sunmed is able to craft consistent customer messaging that can go out right away.
“The day after [customers] visit a store, they’re receiving the first email communication from us,” says Wilfredo Rodriguez, CFO of Sunmed. “And it’s so critical for us to have that detailed transactional data in order to be able to engage with the customers at a very individualized level.”
It’s paid off. Open rates and customer engagement are growing, fast.
Spring into a more organized CBD store
Taking the time to optimize your CBD inventory this spring can set your store up for success in the months ahead.
By using Lightspeed’s advanced inventory management tools, you can stay ahead of trends, maintain compliance and provide a seamless shopping experience—both in-store and online. Want to learn more? Click here to have one of our POS experts reach out.
Frequently asked questions about CBD inventory management
What are the essential steps for preparing a CBD inventory checklist for spring?
CBD retailers should start by auditing their current stock, identifying slow-moving products, and clearing out expired or soon-to-expire items.
Next, they should adjust reorder points based on seasonal demand trends, ensuring they stock up on spring-friendly CBD products such as skincare, edibles or wellness-focused items.
Retailers should also verify compliance with updated regulations, refresh product display, and streamline their inventory for accurate tracking and future adjustments.
How can CBD retailers optimize their inventory for seasonal demand?
Retailers can analyze past sales data to determine which CBD products perform well in spring and adjust purchasing accordingly.
Popular seasonal items often include CBD-infused beverages, topicals for outdoor activities and stress-relief products for allergy season. Setting up reorder points and bundling slow-moving inventory with bestsellers can help maximize revenue. Highlighting seasonal promotions in-store and online can further drive demand.
What compliance considerations should CBD retailers keep in mind during spring inventory planning?
CBD regulations frequently change, so retailers should review local and federal guidelines to ensure product labeling, potency, and packaging remain compliant. Spring inventory planning should include verifying third-party lab results, updating certificates of analysis (COAs) and removing non-compliant or expired products from shelves. Keeping a detailed record of batch numbers and supplier documentation ensures compliance while avoiding costly fines or penalties.
What are the best practices for auditing CBD product stock before the spring season?
Retailers should conduct a full inventory count, cross-checking stock levels against POS data to identify discrepancies. Checking expiration dates, batch tracking numbers and product quality ensures only fresh, compliant products are available for sale.
Retailers should also assess slow-moving inventory and create clearance promotions to free up space for spring-focused items.
How can CBD retailers identify and stock up on trending products for spring?
Retailers can track emerging trends by analyzing industry reports, customer purchase history and supplier recommendations.
Spring often brings demand for CBD-infused skincare, energy-boosting tinctures and stress-relief edibles. Checking competitor offerings and leveraging data-driven sales insights from their POS system can help determine which new items to stock. Partnering with trusted CBD suppliers and ordering in small test batches ensures inventory remains relevant and adaptable.
