Scan your weighing scale labels straight into the sale

How a scale label works

A retail label scale weighs the item, looks up the product by its PLU number, and prints a sticker with a barcode. That barcode is not a normal product code. It starts with 2, then a digit that tells the till what kind of label it is, then the product’s PLU number, then either the weight or the price.

Scales differ in exactly which of those they print, so StoreWave does not guess. In settings, under scale barcodes, you add a rule for each prefix your scales use:

• The prefix, from 21 to 29. Prefix 20 is kept for the barcodes StoreWave creates itself.
• Weight or price, depending on what your scale puts in the barcode.
• How to read the number, such as three decimal places on a weight so that 01234 means 1.234 kg.
• The PLU length, five digits or four, to match your scale’s layout.

Then give each weighed product its PLU number, the same one you set on the scale. That is the whole setup.

What happens at the till

The cashier scans the label like any other barcode. StoreWave finds the product from the PLU, reads the weight or price from the barcode, and adds the line with the right quantity.

The customer pays exactly the price printed on the label. A weight multiplied by a price per kilo can land a cent away from what the scale printed, and a customer holding the sticker notices. So on a price label, StoreWave charges the label’s figure itself, and the check is made again on the server when the sale is completed, so the till can never be tricked into a different price.

Loose goods without a scale

Not every shop needs a label scale. If you weigh at the counter, or cut rope, chain or fabric to length, give the product a unit such as kg, g, L, ml, m or cm. When it is tapped or scanned, a keypad asks for the amount instead of adding one, so 2.5 m of chain or 0.75 kg of nuts is a single line.

Stock is held to three decimal places, so what you sold is recorded exactly as it happened and the stock count on screen matches the weight on the shelf.

Price per kilo on the shelf

When you print labels for weighed goods, you can show the price per kilo or per metre as well as the price, which many countries require on the shelf edge for loose goods.