Automatic Age

12
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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