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What Are The Uses of a Retail Scale?

Retail scales (or shop scales as they’re often known) are crucial to many environments that sell products based on weight. This can be a broad area, so it’s important that retail scales are versatile enough to give fast, accurate results when weighing a wide range of subjects.

In this blog, we’re going to focus on the many uses of a retail scale and showcase just how versatile they can be.

For a look at one of our retail scales in action, please read our blog post: How Inscale Helped Zero-Waste Company Bare + Fair Legally Sell Products by Weight.

What are the benefits of using a retail scale?

Businesses of all kinds can benefit from using retail scales as they help to speed up transactions for both user and customer. They do this by calculating the price of a subject based on its weight, usually in price per kilo of price per 100g.

Retail scales also usually feature a display on the front and rear of the instruments for customers to quickly and easily view the price they need to pay. These displays are made up of three screens to break down the transaction and show total weight, unit price and total price.

Another key difference that makes a retail scale unique is the inclusion of PLU’s (price look-ups). These help to speed up transactions by allowing users to store price data on the instrument, which can be quickly recalled often with the simple press of a button.

What are the uses of a retail scale?

Shops

The most popular use of retail scales is in shops where items are sold individually or in bulk based on their weight. A good example is sweet shops; retail scales are used to weigh out sweets to determine a price - or, to ensure the number of sweets being sold to a customer meets, based on the total weight, the price advertised.

Retail scales like Adam Equipment's 'Swift' SWZ can be purchased with a confectionary scoop to make weighing sweets in sweet shops much easier.

Market stalls

Another popular use of retail scales is in market environments, such as farmers markets or fresh produce stands, where they are used to weigh out cuts of meat, loose fruit and vegetables or other fresh produce. Here, it’s not always possible to have access to a mains power supply, so it can be beneficial to have a battery powered device.

The Kern RPB Price Computing Scale features an optional rechargeable battery that offers an impressive 50 hours of operation when not using the backlit display. It is also a highly mobile device that can easily be picked up and transported between a permanent shop, a vehicle or a market stall if necessary.   

Plastic free shops

Plastic free shops are growing in popularity and one of the most important pieces of equipment is a retail scale. There are often a wide range of products to weigh, so it is crucial to have a versatile retail scale that is comfortable weighing a selection of subjects.

The Adam Equipment SWZ Swift Price Computing Retail Scale features 100 inbuilt PLU’s for fast and accurate product price recalls – a feature that is perfect for weighing many different products.

Butchers and Fishmongers

Meat and fish is another popular product that requires pricing by weight. Butchers use retail scales to accurately price cuts of meat in price per kilo or per grams so that the customer knows what to pay.

For weighing meat and fish, it’s especially useful to have a weighing scale that can easily be cleaned down after use to ensure a hygienic working environment. All of our retail scales have smooth, removeable stainless steel weighing pans that can be washed or sprayed down.

The SWZ Swift from Adam Equipment can also be used with an in-use wet cover that does not interfere with the overall usability of the product, but does provide substantial protection from liquids and dirt. This can quickly be removed when necessary and a new one fitted.

For any more help with our range of retail scales or how they can be used, please Get In Touch with us.

Related Blogs:

How Inscale Helped Zero-Waste Company Bare + Fair Legally Sell Products by Weight

Shop Scales: A Buyers Guide

A Guide to Trade Approvals: What is a Trade Approved Scale?

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