Britney's Business Tips

If you're shopping around for new POS scales for your store, then your main aim may be to get scales that just weigh fresh foods and print out a barcode label. Your customers then take the item to the tills when they pay for their shopping.

However, some POS scales have additional features that may be useful. For example, you could install scales with a raised customer screen. This screen works in tandem with the screen that your employees see when they weigh food, but it is turned to face the customer.

What are the benefits of using raised screens?

Improved Customer Communication

The customer screen on a set of scales can contain a range of information. This includes information on the weight of the item and its cost. So, if a customer is having a joint of meat weighed, they can see the weight of the joint, its unit cost and the actual price.

While some customers are happy to just get a final price from the person serving them, some will appreciate being able to see how much items will cost. They may want to see if something is within their budget before they buy it, for example.

A customer screen is also useful if any of your customers are hard of hearing. Overseas visitors and people whose English is a bit sketchy may also prefer to see the price. They may feel more comfortable and less embarrassed with a visual rather than verbal cost if it means that they don't have to struggle to hear or to communicate.

Improved Cross-selling Opportunities

While part of a customer screen can be ring-fenced for pricing data, you can use the other part of the screen as a marketing tool. While your customer is waiting for their items to be packaged up and labelled, they are a captive audience. The screen is at eye-level so they can easily see any messages you put on it.

For example, you could use this part of the screen to cross-sell items in the area they're currently shopping in. So, if you have a special offer on sausages or have started selling a new flavour, then you could put an advert on your meat counter screen. A customer buying meat may see the advert and decide to buy some of the sausages on the spot.

Or, you could put up adverts on other items in your store. You can market discounts and special deals that customers may otherwise not have known about. This may boost their spending.

If you're interested in adding extras to your scales, talk to your point of sale solutions supplier.