Selling by Weight Online: Produce, Deli and Meat Without the Headaches

A box of cereal has one price. A pound of ham doesn't, because nobody slices exactly one pound. That's the whole difficulty with selling weighed items online, and it's why many stores leave produce, deli and meat off their website entirely. That's a mistake: fresh food is often what brings people to an independent store in the first place.

Pick a clear unit for every weighed item

Customers need to know what they're buying. Choose one unit per item and show the price per unit plainly: per pound, per half pound, per kilo. Don't mix units in the same section of your store; a customer comparing two cheeses shouldn't have to convert between them.

Offer sensible quantities

Instead of asking for any weight, offer the quantities people actually buy: half a pound of turkey, two pounds of ground beef, one pound of grapes. It's easier to order and easier for staff to fill.

For produce, some items make more sense by count than by weight. "6 bananas" is clearer than "2.3 pounds of bananas" for almost everyone.

Decide how you'll handle differences

When staff weigh the real item, it will rarely match the order exactly. Decide your policy before you launch, and say it on the website:

• Fill as close as possible and charge the ordered amount, absorbing small differences
• Or charge the weighed amount and tell the customer at pickup

Whichever you pick, put it in a line under each weighed item. Surprises at pickup are what cause complaints, not the policy itself.

Keep the counter and the website in step

Weighed items still have stock. If the deli runs out of a cheese at 4 p.m., it should disappear from the website at 4 p.m. That only works when the online store reads the same stock as your register. In ScomsPOS, items can be sold by weight next to packaged goods, on the same register and the same online store.

Write descriptions that answer questions

For fresh items, the questions are predictable: Where is it from? How thick is it sliced? Is it marinated? Answer them in one line. It saves a phone call and makes the order right the first time.

Start small

Put your ten best-selling weighed items online first. Learn how picking and weighing works with real orders, then add more. Read more in our grocery online ordering guide, or see POS for international and specialty markets, where weighed and bulk items are a big part of the shelf.