Selling by carton, pack and single piece without losing count

Walk into any provision shop at Kejetia or Makola and you will see the same tin of milk sold three ways. A mother buys one tin. A chop bar owner buys a pack of six. A smaller shop buys a whole carton, or half of one. Each customer expects a different price, and you expect the stock count to be right at the end of the month.

That only works if the product is set up properly once. This guide shows how.

Why does selling in different units cause problems?

Different units cause problems because most shops record stock in one unit and sell in another. If your book says "20 cartons" and you sell 5 single tins, what is left? The cashier has to work it out, and over a month those small sums go wrong.

The usual signs:

• The count says you have stock, but the shelf is empty.
• A carton was sold at the single-piece price, or a single tin at the carton price per tin.
• Staff open a carton to sell pieces and nobody records it.
• Nobody knows the real profit on a carton sale.

The fix is one rule: count everything in the smallest unit you sell.

How should you set up a product sold in several units?

Set up one product in its smallest unit, then add each bigger unit as a pack of a fixed number of pieces. The pack has its own name, price and barcode, and selling it takes the right number of pieces off your stock.

Here is an example for a tin of evaporated milk sold by the tin, the six-pack and the carton of 24.

These are example figures. Use your own cost and the prices in your area.

• Single tinGH₵12.00
• Pack of 6GH₵11.50
• Carton of 24GH₵11.00

Source: Example figures

Notice that the half carton has no product of its own. It is half of the carton, sold at the carton rate. That keeps your product list short.

How do you handle half cartons and broken packs?

Sell a half carton as 0.5 of the carton. The till charges half the carton price and takes 12 tins off stock, so the count is still right.

A broken pack is different. It happens when you open a carton to sell single pieces. If your stock is kept in pieces, you do not need to record anything: the 24 tins were always counted as 24 tins. This is the main reason to count in pieces. When stock is kept in cartons, every opened carton needs a manual adjustment, and those are the ones staff forget.

Should every pack have its own barcode?

Yes, where you can. Many cartons already carry a different barcode from the single item inside. When each unit has its own barcode, the cashier scans and the right unit and price come up. Nobody has to choose "carton" from a list during a busy hour.

If the carton has no barcode, print your own label for it. Our guide to barcodes for a Ghanaian shop explains how, and what to do when two products share a code.

How do you price packs so they make sense?

Price each pack so the customer saves a little per piece compared with buying singles, but you still make your margin. Work from your cost per piece.

Say a carton of 24 costs you GH₵228. That is GH₵9.50 a tin.

• Single tin at GH₵12.00: GH₵2.50 profit per tin.
• Pack of 6 at GH₵69.00: GH₵2.00 per tin.
• Carton at GH₵264.00: GH₵1.50 per tin, or GH₵36 on the carton.

These are example figures. The carton earns less per tin, but you sell 24 at once, with less handling. The check that matters: the per-piece price should never be higher in a bigger pack. If it is, regular customers notice and buy singles instead.

For the full method, including wholesale price lists and VAT, read retail and wholesale pricing and margins.

Make the counter fast

The fastest way to sell several of the same item is to scan once and type the quantity. A good till asks how many after each item: the cashier types 6, presses Enter and scans the next item. If the next item is scanned straight away, the quantity stays at 1.

This matters at busy times. A customer buying 10 sachets of Milo, 3 tins of tomato paste and a carton of Voltic should take seconds, not a long line of beeps.

1. 1Create the product in its smallest unit
2. 2Enter the cost and price per piece
3. 3Add each pack with its number of pieces
4. 4Give each pack its own price
5. 5Scan or print a barcode for each unit
6. 6Count the stock in pieces

What about goods sold by weight?

Rice, sugar, gari and beans sold from a bag work the same way. Keep stock in kilograms and sell part quantities, such as 0.5 kg. If you weigh on a label scale that prints barcodes, the till can read the weight or the price from the label.

How MPOS handles units

In MPOS each product can have packs, such as a carton or a box of 10, each with its own price and barcode. You can sell part quantities, such as 0.5 of a carton, and sell weighed goods, including scale barcodes. After each scan the till asks how many, so a cashier can type the number, press Enter and carry on. Stock is kept per branch, with a low-stock warning when an item runs short.

If you are moving from another system, you can import your products from Excel or CSV and set up the packs after.

To see your own products in it, start a free trial. Then read the complete guide to running a shop in Ghana for the rest of the setup.