With the razor-thin margins of the grocery industry, accuracy is paramount. Success depends on every ounce of meat in your refrigerators and every penny in your cash drawers.
To protect your bottom line and keep your grocery store’s profits as high as possible, you need a powerful point of sale (POS) system with scale integration to keep track of your inventory and boost overall efficiency.
In this blog, we’ll explain what makes a POS system with scale integration a must-have for your grocery store, and we’ll cover three signs that your small business could benefit from this tool.
What Is a Grocery POS System With Scale Integration?
Before we dive into the benefits of scale integration, let’s talk about POS systems in general.
Your POS system processes every single transaction that takes place in your store — but that’s not all. This comprehensive tool has the power to track your stock levels, manage your sales and promotions, build customer loyalty, and more.
A POS system with scale integration supercharges your grocery store’s inventory management process. Scale integration makes selling products by weight a breeze, ensuring spot-on inventory counts and accurate pricing.
Let’s take a look at how a POS system with scale integration transforms the process of selling by weight.
- Without Scale Integration: A customer approaches your deli counter and requests one pound of roast beef. Your deli associate slices, weighs, and packages it for your customer. At checkout, your cashier will have to manually enter the weight and product information to generate the right price and record the sale. This process leaves room for error and could result in charging a customer the wrong price or inaccurate inventory information.
- With Scale Integration: A customer approaches your deli counter and places the same order. After your deli associate has sliced their roast beef, they’ll place it on your integrated deli scale. While the meat is still on the scale, your cashier will select the product information and print a barcode label to place on the package. At checkout, all your cashier will have to do is scan the barcode, and your POS system will automatically add the correct price to the customer’s total and subtract the right amount of inventory from your records.
Now that we’ve covered what this critical tool can do, let’s explore some of the key signs your grocery store needs a POS system with scale integration.
1. You Sell Items by Weight
The main sign that your grocery store needs a POS system with scale integration is that you sell freshly prepared meats, cheeses, or products like granola by weight.
Selling these products by weight without the right tools and processes in place requires you to rely on time-consuming and error-prone manual data entry, resulting in costly pricing and inventory errors.
Opting for a POS system with scale integration will make things easier for your employees in your deli department and meat counter, and it also provides your customers with a faster, more convenient experience when it’s time to check out.
2. You’ve Noticed Inventory Discrepancies
Finding yourself with too little or too much of a certain cut of meat or type of cheese? That’s a clear sign that it’s time to spruce up your inventory management solution.
Fortunately, a POS system with scale integration has the power to help.
Scale integration ensures that every ounce of meat or cheese sold in your store is tracked and recorded, giving you access to an accurate, real-time overview of your stock levels and sales.
Equipped with this data, you’ll be able to prevent stockouts and keep your bestselling products in stock, cut down on overstocking and waste, and make informed decisions about your inventory.
3. Your Checkout Lines Are Getting Longer
When your customers visit your grocery store, they’re looking for the best quality products and the best quality experience. In particular, they want a quick, hassle-free checkout every time they shop with you.
If you’re seeing long checkout lines and more frustrated customers, it might be a result of inefficient sales by weight. Without scale integration, your cashiers have to manually weigh customers’ items and enter product information at the checkout counter — which significantly slows down their process.
In contrast, a POS system with scale integration allows them to simply scan barcodes for all of your customers’ items, keeping your checkout lines moving and empowering your cashiers to offer the most convenient checkout experience.
Make Selling by Weight a Breeze With Markt POS
Ready to boost your customer satisfaction, protect your grocery store’s bottom line, and manage your inventory with ease? Then it’s time to add a POS system with scale integration to your small business toolbelt.
Markt POS is a POS system with scale integration designed to support grocers just like you. Along with robust inventory management features, Markt POS includes a built-in customer loyalty program, advanced reporting and analytics, and more to help you become the best grocery store in your neighborhood.
Schedule a live demo today to see Markt POS in action, or use our build and price tool to create a custom POS solution for your grocery store.
