Scanning failures in your point-of-sale software hamper your business. Here is a list of some of the problems
- At best, your POS system is running slow, slowing your customers' checkout times as scanning is faster than manual entry.
- It often means that you cannot usually provide detailed customer receipts
- Often, your system cannot give you accurate stock history
- Often, the stock quantities in your system are wrong.
- Manual entry makes more mistakes
It is better to scan more.
The first point to look at is your scan rate to give you a feel of the problem, and it is easy to get; go to sales.
Once there, select Dissection Sales / Profitability for a Given Period.
Now run the report. I usually do it for the previous 12 months.
You will see a column with %Scan; the higher, the better. Looking through this list, you can see where I marked a problem department with a green arrow.
Now there can be many causes of this problem. The first point is to test whether it is happening on a scanner. Sometimes you improve your barcode scanning rates from this scanner by:
-Experiment with your scanner what height it reads best with the barcodes that you use. It will vary depending on what barcodes you use and your barcode reader. Please take a few items, try and scan them and see what works best.
-Maybe the scanner is in bright light, so try moving the scanner to a different location.
-Try putting the barcode straight. Sometimes not having the barcode straight can cause problems for a scanner to read the barcode. It is also less of an eyesore.
-Avoid putting barcodes on shiny objects as the light will reflect into the scanner and cause problems.
-Cleaning your barcode scanner and printer can help immensely. A rag and some cleaning material can often do wonders.
-Remember, dirty or wet barcodes or barcodes with staples are not suitable for scanning.
Suppose all scanners see if the problem is the suppliers' or your barcodes. If it is your barcodes, check your printer; it may be dirt causing poor ink distribution.
Remember that sometimes you have to replace these units if the goods you sell are not suitable for what you sell or if they have deteriorated.
A bonus tip
You can increase your scan rate if you make a convention in your shop where you will stick the barcode. The front, top, back, etc., stick with it if possible; this will save people from having to hunt for the barcode.
