Selling by weight

A weighed product is charged for its net weight: the goods without the container. Set up the product and the way its weight reaches the register before selling it.

Set up a weighed product

Open Back Office → Products → Settings and open the product for editing. Set Sold by to Weight, choose Unit of measure, and enter Product Suggested Price for that unit. VoVi offers lb or oz; the Israeli edition offers kg or g. Display per changes how the unit price is shown; it does not change the unit used to enter the product's price.

• PLU is the short produce lookup code. Scale item number identifies the product inside a scale label; keep any leading zeros.
• Tare grams is the product's default container weight. Minimum weight grams, Maximum weight grams and Weight precision grams set the product's accepted weight range and increment. The physical scale's division is set separately at the till.
• Scale label text supplies the name on a scale label; an empty field uses the product name. Shelf life days supplies the interval from packing to sell-by.
• Catch weight — count pieces, price by weight adds a piece count alongside one net weight for all the pieces. The weighed stock balance still uses grams.
• Names in other languages holds the names you enter for the same product. Save the product, then find it at the register and check its unit and price before using it.

If you change an existing product between Unit and Weight while it has stock, Convert existing stock asks for Grams per unit. Review the conversion before Convert and save; Reset stock to zero deliberately clears the balances and is not a unit-conversion shortcut.

Choose and connect a scale

There are three ways to work: a checkout scale connected to the till; a counter scale that prints a deli label for scanning; or a stand-alone scale whose reading you type by hand. A label scan does not require a live connection to the scale. On iPad and iPhone, this app offers label scanning or permitted manual entry, with no checkout-scale transport.

At the register, open Printer → Checkout scale. Scale connections on this device shows what this device offers: Web Serial scale when the browser exposes Web Serial over HTTPS; Bluetooth scale module (Nordic UART) for the documented external module; or USB scale through the app for the native Android CDC-ACM connection. Windows Chrome can expose Web Serial; on Android Chrome the available browser APIs decide. Having a USB socket or a Bluetooth logo doesn't mean the scale will work with the register.

Choose Scale driver, Scale connection, and, when shown, Scale protocol mode. Match Scale baud rate, Scale division (grams) and Scale unit to the instrument and its interface instructions. Press Connect scale, select the scale's port or module, then Save to retain the pairing on this till. After pairing, Live scale diagnostics shows Last 50 frames and parsed values; Copy scale diagnostics copies the connection information for support. Disconnect scale releases the connection before changing it.

The driver list covers NCI / 8217 (including ECR and PBS), Mettler Toledo SICS, CAS ECR, DIGI DS and a configured Generic ASCII pattern. Shekel uses NCI mode only where the instrument actually offers it. Dibal and CAS ASCII modes have unverified framing; Shekel native mode is unavailable. The Tested hardware list separates documentation from physical testing: no model has a recorded hardware test yet. Send support the exact model, cable and firmware details so they can check.

Tare and container presets

Tare is the empty container's weight. The register panel starts with Product tare. In Back Office → Locations → Barcodes and weighing → Weighing and packaging, use Add tare preset, fill Tare preset name and Tare grams, then Save weighing settings. The saved container names become buttons in the weighing panel.

For another container, use Manual tare (grams) or Manual tare (oz) and Apply tare while the pan is at zero. Maximum manual tare grams sets the cap in Back Office. Where the protocol supports them, Zero scale and Tare scale send commands; check the next reading to see the result. Check whether the instrument is already sending net weight before also applying a container deduction in the register: deduct the container once.

Deli labels and the barcode tester

In Locations → Barcodes and weighing, choose a Preset, use Add profile, set the prefixes and Enable profile, then Save barcode settings. Match the layout to the scale's barcode instructions. Edit field positions uses positions starting at zero; Label value distinguishes price from weight, and Weight unit on label belongs to weight profiles.

Under Live barcode tester, scan or type the complete code into Label barcode and press Test saved layouts. Layout matched; product not mapped means the digits parsed but the item needs a product: set Scale item number on that product, or use Map to product at the register with product-management permission and an online Back Office session. No saved layout matched this barcode. calls for checking the enabled profile and its prefixes. Support details opens the full result for support. The tester uses catalog prices; the register uses its location's effective price list.

Use the label price keeps a price label's total; a weight label uses the register price. A price label's weight is reconstructed from the unit price, so it can differ from the printed net weight after repricing. Maximum label age in days can check a date only when the barcode has a Packed date field; a date printed beside the barcode is not enough. The US Verify the US four-digit price verifier starts off, pending tests with real labels; the barcode's own check digit is always checked.

Pre-pack and print labels

Open Products → Scale label / Pre-pack, choose Location and a weight product. Use Connect saved scale, then Use stable reading, or enter Net weight in grams. This screen takes net grams in both editions; enter Tare grams separately, without subtracting it again. Set Packed date, then Preview scale label.

Choose Label preset, or Edit label presets to match the paper. Press Print scale label, check the printed label, and only then use Record pre-pack if you want the packing event recorded. To record it, you need tracked inventory and permission to manage inventory. Recording a pack logs the event without changing stock; stock goes down when you sell it. Pre-pack uses an enabled price profile with Use the label price on.

For shelves, Products → Labels & Price Tags → Label template → Shelf label with unit price shows per lb on VoVi and per kg in the Israeli edition. The Israeli Also show price per 100 g adds a second line. Scale labels are prepared on Scale label / Pre-pack, where their weight is known.

For a label-printing counter scale, Locations → Settings → Scales has Label scale vendor and Download PLUs for CAS, DIGI and Dibal import mappings. Import the file in the vendor's desktop software and check a printed label with the tester. Direct PLU push does not provide a working Ethernet transfer; Push PLUs (unavailable) reports that limitation. Downloading does not clear PLUs need updating or prove that the instrument received the file.

Sell at the register

Find the product by name or PLU and tap it to open the weighing panel. Check the container, place the goods on the pan and wait for Weight locked with the check mark. The register accepts a fresh, positive reading inside the product limits after it has stayed stable for half a second. With Automatically accept a held stable weight on, it adds the line automatically; otherwise press Accept weight. Clear the pan before weighing the next item.

If Allow manual weight entry is on for this till, Enter weight manually opens Net weight (lb) on VoVi or Net weight (grams) in the Israeli edition. Enter net weight and press Accept weight. Manual entry is recorded as the weight source; receipt source text appears only when that receipt option is enabled. For catch weight, set Pieces for the combined weight. Tap the weight on an existing cart line to weigh it again. Check net weight, unit price and line total in the cart, then Charge; the receipt records these figures too, and a connected customer display shows the locked line.

Refund part of a weighed item

Open Receipts, find the original sale and press Return. In Return / Exchange, weighed lines start selected for their full remaining weight. Use the check/plus button beside each line (Return this weighed line) to keep only the lines being returned, and check Returnable weight. A manager with permission to change the weight can enter the part being returned in Return weight (lb) or Return weight (oz); the Israeli field is Return weight (grams). For catch weight, check Pieces returned too. Choose Back to stock for goods going back into tracked stock, or Damaged — write off for waste. Check Refund to before pressing Refund. The refund uses the original sale's price and cannot return more weight than remains on the line. Refunds need an online connection.

Stock, counts, waste and yield

Weighed stock is stored as grams, including meat, cheese or bread sold by weight; bread sold by the piece remains unit stock. Stock grams and Minimum stock grams in the product editor take grams. Inventory → Management, Daily Count, Transfers, View Testers and Losses and Purchase Order show a weight unit beside weighed quantities: enter the quantity in that displayed unit. The ledger keeps the conversion in grams. Lot-tracked products keep the lot code and expiry date with their stock.

For cutting or production, open Inventory → Yield. Choose Input product and Input weight, add each Output product and Output weight, then review Loss weight (calculated) before Record yield. Loss is the difference between input and outputs; there is no separate loss field to fill. This flow needs layered inventory costing, such as FIFO or average; follow the screen's link to Inventory settings. Record spoilage or discarded goods in View Testers and Losses rather than changing the sale's weight.

Reports and verification reminders

In Products → Products Report, Sold weight separates weighed sales from piece counts. Choose the location and period before comparing the product report, inventory history and End of Day Report; a receipt gives the individual line's net weight, unit price and total.

In Locations → Settings → Scales, Add scale records Make, Model, Serial number, Scale division grams, Scale capacity grams, Verification date and Verification due; VoVi also offers Seal date. Verification reminders under Barcodes and weighing → Weighing and packaging controls the dated reminder. The daily check sends a warning to the operations inbox within 30 days of the recorded due date, including overdue dates. It points back to location settings; it does not inspect the instrument or confirm verification.

What the software does not do

VoVi does not calibrate, verify or certify a weighing instrument. Your scale supplier handles instrument setup and service; the national or state weights-and-measures service provides the official verification information. A saved scale status, a successful connection and a software hardware test are not an instrument approval or verification mark.

Inspection records and official information

An inspection may examine the unit price, net weight and line total on the receipt, the instrument's verification or seal, and how tare is handled. The software records those sale figures and nonzero tare on the receipt, and stores the scale details and dates in Scales. These records show what you entered and sold; they don't confirm that your shop meets the legal requirements.

For Israel, the statutory reference is the Weights and Measures Ordinance, 1947 and its regulations; model approval and the verification mark are described by the Ministry of Economy and Industry — Weights and Measures unit and its verification service. For the United States, NTEP Certificate of Conformance, the state weights-and-measures seal and NIST Handbook 44, including section 2.20, are the relevant terms to take to the state weights-and-measures programme and the official Handbook 44 page. These official services explain which process applies to your shop.