by What’s the difference between a box of cereal and a T-bone steak?
There are quite a few, but what we’re looking at today is how they’re packaged and sold. In other words, these two products represent the difference between catch weight and fixed weight sales.
In this blog, we’ll take a closer look at catch weight vs. fixed weight inventory management, breaking down the differences, exploring which approach to take, and sharing our top tips for a weight-based inventory strategy.
Catch Weight vs. Fixed Weight: How Are They Different?
Let’s start with a definition of fixed weight products.
Fixed weight products are packaged in uniform quantities and sold for one consistent price. They’re typically nonperishable items that you’d find on a grocery store shelf, like boxed cereal, jarred sauces, or canned vegetables.
In contrast, catch weight items can vary wildly in quantity and price, and they’re packaged and sold upon customers’ request. For example, a customer might purchase 10 pounds of ground beef, or they might only buy half a pound.
You’ll weigh out the exact amount they request, package it, calculate the price, and label it with a barcode for an easy sale.
This is a go-to approach for farmers since it works best for perishable goods like meat and produce with variable yields — but let’s take a closer look at some other reasons you might adopt a catch-weight management strategy.
1. Customer Preference
Your customers’ preferences should be a major factor in deciding whether to offer catch-weight or fixed-weight products in your farm store.
When shopping for farm-fresh beef or locally caught seafood, most customers want to order and pay for the exact amount that fits into their budgets and meal plans. If you only offer fixed weight products, you’ll inconvenience shoppers who want to make a larger or smaller purchase.
If a customer has a large family or large appetite, they’ll have to visit your farm store more often than they’d like. If they want to try out a smaller portion than you offer, they’ll be frustrated about spending more than they originally planned.
Adopting a catch weight approach makes it easy to meet both types of customers’ needs and give them exactly what they want.
2. Waste
Another reason to opt for a catch weight management strategy is that it can reduce waste.
If you sell your farm’s meats or produce in fixed weight quantities, you might be left with scraps that can’t be sold, putting a dent in your bottom line.
On the other hand, a catch weight approach lets you sell your farm’s meats down to the last ounce, eliminating waste and maximizing profits.
3. Pricing
Another major difference to keep in mind when comparing a catch weight and fixed weight strategy is how products are priced.
If you sell products by their exact weight, you need to accurately calculate their prices. For example, if a customer requests 10 pounds of ground sausage for $5 per pound, their purchase will be $50 before taxes and delivery charges.
While calculating catch weight prices might seem complicated or time consuming, a point of sale (POS) system designed for weight-based sales can make it simple.
How To Manage Catch Weight Inventory
Now that we’ve covered why you should take a catch weight approach when it comes to selling your farm’s goods, let’s talk about how to track and sell products by weight.
1. Invest in a Reliable Scale
One of the most important ingredients for catch weight management success is a reliable scale that integrates with your POS system.
Your scale will be responsible for providing spot-on product weights and syncing them with your POS system to ensure accurate inventory counts and pricing.
If you can’t trust your scales, you’ll have to sort out stock record discrepancies, absorb losses from undercharging, and pay back customers who have been overcharged as a result of scale inaccuracies.
2. Use a Specialty POS System
Your farm store’s scale and POS solution should work hand in hand to make catch weight management effortless.
Your POS system should seamlessly accept inputs from your scales, eliminating the need for error-prone manual weight entries. From there, it should do the math for you, calculating and charging your customer the correct price at checkout.
Since you might sell some prepackaged products like jars of honey or bags of frozen vegetables, make sure your POS system is equipped to handle catch weight and fixed weight sales.
3. Leverage Labels
The final must-have for managing catch weight inventory is a labeling system.
Labels are crucial for building customers’ trust, streamlining the checkout process, and providing the freshest products possible. They should include the name of the product, its weight, its exact price, and its expiration date.
To speed up the checkout process and ensure an even higher level of accuracy, we recommend relying on barcode labels.
The easiest way to print labels is by choosing a scale with a built-in label printer. Instead of having to connect a separate printer or manually input information, your scale will automatically generate a barcode and print a label after a product has been weighed.
Tackle Catch Weight and Fixed Weight Inventory With GrazeCart
Catch weight vs. fixed weight inventory management: which will you pick?
Fortunately, with GrazeCart, you don’t have to choose.
GrazeCart is a powerful, all-in-one farm e-commerce designed for farmers like you. Our software has all the features you need to manage perishable, variable-weight items — along with fixed-weight products.
Plus, you can sell in person or online, giving you even more flexibility and opportunities to grow your business.
Take GrazeCart for a spin by launching your free, two-week trial today.