Pricing Products
Every scan runs through the same pricing engine. Here's what it does and how each part contributes to the final price.
The pricing cascade
When a processor scans a barcode, the tool:
- Looks up the reference retail price. This is the product’s original retail from your reference source: the price it would sell for at full retail, before any discount. If the barcode is in your catalog, this comes back instantly. If it’s a new SKU, the tool prompts for manual entry or, with the AI Retail Research add-on, fetches it automatically.
- Applies the category discount. Every product belongs to a category (Grocery, Health & Beauty, Household, Frozen, and so on). Each category has its own discount rule, for example 40% off retail for Grocery and 30% off retail for Health & Beauty. The rule for the product’s category determines the outlet price.
- Rounds to your pricing convention. Prices round to your configured convention: nearest quarter, nearest 99-cent ending, whatever your store uses.
The final price displays in the workstation. Processors accept it, or override manually if the situation calls for judgment.
The last-updated timestamp
Every priced SKU shows when its price was last set. Processors see this alongside the current price on every scan.
The timestamp is the store’s quality signal for pricing freshness. Market prices shift over time: a reference retail price set 8 months ago may no longer match what the product actually sells for at full retail today. Processors scanning older-priced SKUs can pause, verify the current reference retail, and update the price if it has drifted.
There’s no rule for how often to refresh, because different categories move at different rates. Fast-moving grocery categories may need monthly refreshes. Slow-moving household categories may hold accurate prices for a year or more. Owners set the expectation for their store.
To refresh a price, enter the current reference retail in the workstation and save. The tool recalculates the outlet price using your current discount rules and updates the timestamp.
The research link
Every reference retail entry can carry a source URL, the link to wherever the retail figure came from. This is your audit trail.
When AI Retail Research fetches a price, the source URL saves automatically. The processor sees where the number came from and can click through to verify before accepting.
When entering a reference retail manually, paste the source URL in the same step. Processors and owners can grab the link from any retailer’s product page and save it alongside the price.
The saved link is what makes stale-price refresh fast. Instead of researching from scratch, click the existing link. If the retailer still shows the saved price, the reference retail is still accurate: update the timestamp and move on. If the price has changed, enter the new figure and save the updated link.
The research link is also how prices become defensible. Any priced SKU can be audited by clicking through to its source. If a customer questions the price, or an owner wants to review how a category is being priced, the trail is right there.
When to override
The pricing engine handles the standard cases consistently. Override manually when:
- A product’s condition, damage, or expiration situation warrants a lower price than the standard rule would produce
- Competitive pressure from a nearby store requires matching a specific price
- An owner or manager has set a specific price on this SKU that should override the calculated price
Overrides are logged with the processor’s name. Owners can review overrides in the reports section.
New SKUs
When a processor scans a barcode not in your catalog, the workstation prompts for the missing information: reference retail, source URL, and category. Once entered, the SKU is added to your catalog and prices normally for future scans.
If your plan includes AI Retail Research, the tool fetches reference retail and source URL automatically from web sources. The processor verifies and accepts. This eliminates most manual reference retail entry.
What processors don’t decide
Category discounts and pricing conventions are set by the owner in Settings, not by processors. Processors execute the pricing rules, refresh prices as they age, and maintain research links; they don’t define the rules themselves. This is how the tool keeps pricing consistent across shifts and team members.
To change how pricing works, adjust the rules in Settings → Discount Rules, covered in Discount Rules.