From small to large: How to choose a trading scale for a store



    Trading scales are an integral part of any grocery store. There are many different ones: checkout, self-service, portioned, suspended, platform. We tell you how to understand all this diversity and choose the right device, depending on the format of the store.

    To begin with, we will clarify what we mean by the words “store format”. Traditionally, food retail is divided by size:
    • small non-chain stores near the house;

    • discounters (small chain stores of the “at home” format);

    • supermarkets

    • hypermarkets.

    Although in fact the same action takes place there - the sale of goods to customers, the size of the store leaves its mark. If the “at home” format can do with inexpensive check-in scales, then the hypermarket will have to equip several departments with different weights.

    Non-network stores near the house


    What is a convenience store format? This is a small point of sale where you run for the most necessary - to buy milk or bread. The assortment there is small. Previously, convenience stores even dispensed with normal cash registers - but this stopped the 54-FZ. However, one cannot live without scales, since the assortment contains a weighted product: vegetables, fruits, sweets, cheese, sausage, meat.

    When choosing weights for a store near the home, you need to focus on the retailer’s budget - usually small - and cross-country ability. Since the customer flow is small, there is not much weighted product, and sellers are able to remember the entire assortment, it is enough to buy the most ordinary cash register scales. You can choose inexpensive, Russian-made. Also in this segment there are models of Korean and Chinese vendors. Of course, cheap check-in scales all consist of continuous restrictions: they have little memory, a segment display on which only the weight of the goods is displayed, sometimes the cost per kilogram and the price of the goods being weighed. The functionality itself is also small: the device can be turned on, off, or reset to zero.

    But all these limitations justify three things:

    • such check-in scales are inexpensive - the average price is 4-7 thousand rubles;

    • they are compact and reliable;

    • small shops have enough of their functionality for the eyes.

    However, if more customers come to the store, such budget checkout weights will not be enough. Usually they are equipped with mini and nano cash registers (they are also called “all in one”), which either do not have COM ports or interfaces are not enough, since they are occupied by other equipment (for example, they are connected to a cash drawer). Therefore, it is advisable to buy scales with a USB connector, then they can be connected to the cashier and set up interaction with them using cash register software. In this case, the retailer will be able to display a common check with the goods without additional manipulations. Such check-in scales are more expensive: on average, 14-24 thousand rubles.

    Out of the network stores of the “near the house” format stand out retail outlets using scanning technology - they have a hand scanner connected to the checkout counter. Typically, such retailers prefer scales with the function of printing . These are necessarily push-button scales with a minimum amount of memory and a small number of ports. They are able to memorize up to 2 thousand commodity items and information on products recommended for weighing. But their functionality is small - they can print simple labels. In this case, most often we are talking about Russian scales with check printing. The cost of such devices ranges from 25-35 thousand rubles.

    Discounters (small chain stores near the house)


    Discounters are also small shops of the “at home” format, but the difference is that they are part of a regional or federal network. Their owner has a bigger budget, and he can afford to spend money on trade automation. Therefore, in discounters, weight equipment is presented more widely and device models are more serious and more expensive.

    Here you can see scales with check printing - which, as the name implies, besides weighing, they also print labels. Usually they are placed in the departments of their own cooking. Alternatively, Dibal W-025 P or CAS CL3000.

    There are also checkout scales at discounters.- These are devices that are installed on a cash register. They are embedded in the general information network of the store, and, in addition to weighing, they also scan goods. Checkout scales come in two types: single-plane and double-plane. The former are 1.5 times more compact than the latter. For example, CAS PDS II (S), (H).

    A little tip: if simple check-in scales are equipped with several ports, they can be used immediately at two cash registers. This is a significant savings.

    Supermarkets


    Supermarkets are large stores with several cash desks. To begin with, they use two formats of work:

    • equip cash register with a cash unit;

    • install self-service scales on the trading floor , so that customers weigh goods themselves, and at the box office only the goods are scanned.

    In the first case, retailers purchase bioptic scanner scales, which cost from 80 thousand rubles. The reason for this is commonplace: in a supermarket, patency is many times higher than in a discounter. Classics of the genre: NCR 7874-3020-909, Datalogic Magellan 8400 or newer models Zebra MP6000, Datalogic Magellan 9800, Dibal KS-400S (with Honeywell Stratos MK2400 scanner).



    In the second case, self-service scales help increase store throughput. Weighing at the checkout counter and searching for a product in the database is the most time-consuming part of the checkout process. Therefore, it is excluded by replacing the checkout scales with self-service scales. Previously, these were push-button devices; either illustrations of goods or their attendant numbers were placed on the keyboard - the same ones indicated on the price tag of products.

    Today, supermarkets use a touch screen self-service scale. On the display, you can place more products than on buttons, and it is much easier to search for them - the search is carried out either by pictures or by numbers. In minutes of inactivity, the self-service scales can play multimedia content, telling, for example, about the actions of the store. Self-service scales with touch screens are in the range of 100-130 thousand rubles.

    However, the installation of self-service scales does not mean that the retailer completely abandons the scales at the checkout. Some in the fight against re-grading and economic violations use low-cost portioning, which at the cash register serves as a checkweigher. Option - CAS SW-2.

    Here are some tips for choosing a self-service scale:

    • it is profitable to purchase self-service scales that can use different types of labels without complex design modifications (for example, changing the type of cassette).

    • if you only need the function of weighing goods and the modern appearance of the device (for example, the presence of a touch screen), then it is not necessary to purchase self-service PC scales (full-featured computers with a weight cell). It will be more profitable for a retailer to replace them with a self-service system touch-screen scale. Some models of such devices are comparable in price to push-button self-service scales (in other words, they are much cheaper than PC scales).

    • look at the scales in which the roll is replaced by a cassette method. It greatly accelerates the replacement process. For example, a Dibal scale requires no more than six seconds to replace a cartridge.



    One more model of scales necessary in supermarkets - button scales with check printing, which are put in cheese, meat and fish departments. They remember a lot of commodity items and information about the goods (about 5-7 thousand items). Up to 20 store employees can work with them, and the scales conduct analytics on the sales history of each seller. This helps to combat fraud involving staff, as well as deal with customer complaints about weighted goods.

    Button scales with check printing are equipped with several interfaces, including modules for connecting to the scales via radio channels. This allows you to use various data transfer infrastructures to upload the product catalog to the device. If we talk about the cost of such scales, then they can cost in the range of 37-50 thousand rubles. Option: Mettler Toledo B-PLUS, CAS CL5000.

    When choosing scales with check printing, you need to consider the following points:

    • it is more functional to equip the area for laying out meat, cheese products and semi-finished products with scales with label printing, whose keyboard is located under the cover of the weighing platform. Above them is only the buyer's display. This allows you to quickly carry out the procedure of weighing the goods, and this arrangement does not interfere with interaction with customers.

    • If you decide to equip the hypermarket with hanging scales with label printing, be sure to pay attention to whether they have a customer display (preferably at least 12 inches). Since it is at the eye level of customers, you get the opportunity to convey to them advertising information through the display of multimedia content. The important thing is that there are already such scales on the market that are no more expensive than ordinary suspended scales of advertised brands.



    In the fish and meat departments of supermarkets you can see hanging scales - devices equipped with a special plate on which products are weighed. It is needed so that no liquid gets into the electronic mechanism of the balance. Most often, owners of supermarkets give preference to devices of brands of class "A", their cost reaches 120 thousand rubles. We share tips on choosing a hanging scale:

    • If it is necessary to integrate the suspended scales into the general information network of the store, we recommend choosing models with a Wi-Fi interface. In this case, it will be easier to move them - the wires leading to the device will not interfere with this;

    • it is advisable to purchase a suspended scale, where the labels are replaced with a cartridge (the tape does not need to be refilled each time). In this case, the store employee will not need to take off his gloves in order to replace the consumable - since the label printing mechanisms do not touch. And this has a beneficial effect on their service life.



    Hypermarkets


    A hypermarket is a very, very large store with dozens of cash desks and huge traffic. They need only reliable devices that can withstand a significant load. Owners of such stores prefer functional scales: for example, self-service PC scales are not uncommon - full-featured computers with weighing equipment that cost over 300 thousand rubles. It can be Dibal CS-1155 or CAS CL7000, as well as Mettler Toledo UC.

    Also in hypermarkets are presented:

    • scales with check printing (they can be equipped with small multimedia displays of the buyer, both color and monochrome);

    • portion scales (usually they are equipped with cafes or restaurants that are present in the hypermarket);

    • scanner scales;

    • suspension scales;

    • scanner scales and platform scales implemented in self-service systems.


    Tips for choosing a portion scale:

    • for baking departments, be sure to give preference to scales with a high degree of protection against dust: the product has a lot of loose ingredients - flour, powdered sugar, cinnamon, poppy seeds;

    • it is also desirable that the scales be equipped with contactless keys - as an example, reset to zero, taring.

    • if you plan to use portioned scales as a test scale, it makes no sense to spend money on a device equipped with two displays. The second display is most often not used and simply turned towards the wall.

    And the places for laying out perishable products of hypermarkets are equipped with industrial scales with the possibility of marking and packaging. Since these devices are very expensive (cost from a million rubles), retailers are looking for money to save. One way is to purchase industrial scales equipped with a semi-automatic labeler (even with their own infrastructure), and partially use the labor of the sales floor staff. Then you don’t have to spend money on additional items.

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