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T h e A u t o m a t ic A g e
stores, in every town and city, are
finding that accurate and attractive
scales have a surprisingly popular ap
peal and resulting earning power.
This transformation has been brought
about in large degree through under
standing and meeting the needs o f
the individual store, and the steps
along the way are interesting to con
sider.
The highest developed types o f
scales on the market today are the
results o f intensive and long con
tinued study o f the problems o f par
ticular types o f stores. Standardiza
tion o f stores, effected by the chains,
has naturally simplified the situation
greatly. But until every requirement
o f the individual store was antici
pated and met, the profit possibilities
o f the scale could not be fully real
ized.
What were these requirements?
The first problem was to determine
the type o f scale that would have the
greatest sales appeal. An analysis
was made o f the earning capacities o f
all types o f scales in all parts o f the
country. A careful survey was made
o f the various scale machines and an
investigation disclosed the amount
o f servicing the various mechanisms
required.
Scale Earning Power
Operators and store managers were
interviewed. Their opinions o f vari
ous scales and the improvements they
suggested were carefully noted. A
field survey o f scales on locations o f
all kinds were completed. And finally,
as a result of this study o f the pre
cise scale performances and require
ments o f the individual store, the
type o f scale that would have the
greatest sales appeal was designed.
There were two general types o f
scales to be considered — the older
dial scale and the ticket-printing
scale. From the study o f actual scale
performances in stores, it was deter
© International Arcade Museum
mined that the ticket-pi'inting scale
had the greater popular appeal and
consequently the greater earning
power.
The results o f such a study o f the
earning capacities o f various types o f
scales are naturally o f great import
ance to the store owner or chain op
erator as well as to the manufacturer.
And it illustrates the value to both
the distributor and the manufacturer
o f the present trend in the automatic
merchandising field— the designing o f
every device to conform to the re
quirements o f the individual store.
It also illustrates the tendency to
regard the automatic merchandising
device as a product to be merchan
dised along the same lines as the
various other products sold by the
store. The scale, fo r example, is to
day regarded as an article with a
definite sales appeal, and every
method o f modern merchandising is
being utilized to l'ealize the maximum
benefit from that appeal.
In every respect today manufac
turers o f the latest type o f scales are
keeping the interests o f the retailer
constantly in view. They are making
thorough and intensive surveys o f
actual conditions confronting the in
dividual store before bringing out a
new model o f scale, and they are
placing the results o f their surveys at
the disposal o f the retailer.
When the chain store operator
knows, fo r example, that one type o f
scale exceeds all others in earning
power and popular appeal, the infor
mation is invaluable to him. And the
chains today are taking the lead in
scale merchandising as in practically
every other phase o f retail selling.
Tests conducted over a period o f
two years in every type o f store have
proved that the average earnings o f
chain stores using one o f the more
recent types o f ticket-printing scales
are about $20 a month, while fo r
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