No Stock Number on Receipt Printout

[RollerBall]

This one seems like a pretty good idea if it can be done without too much hassle.

Someone asked me today why their receipt didn't look like the ones they get from the local supermarket - you know, 5 cans of beans and the price. Why was there a stock number on there which meant nothing to them and just made the receipt more difficult to understand.

So I went into Receipt Language and removed the label but when I printed another receipt the label at the top had gone but the stock numbers were still there.

So the question is Dale, would it be possible to create a layout using Receipt Language that leaves out Stock Numbers?

[Andrew]

This has been raised several times before - however the main reason for printing the stock number is if you have to perform a refund/return.

It's a lot easier to punch up the stock number, especially if you have a looooong stock table.

I don't know how much code would need to be changed to alter this, that's up to Dale - but you are treading where many have failed.

[Dale Harris]

Rollerball,

What Andrew said.

The primary reason for stock numbers on the receipts is to be able to identify the items on the receipts.

This applies to both the store and the customer. If you have thousands of items it is possible that two of them may have the same description. Or at least a similar description. For example the RED SHIRT, MEN'S, LARGE can easily be confused with MEN'S LARGE RED SHIRT. The one I purchased from you was 29.99 and that is what is on the receipt. But is that what I got, or was it the one for 24.99 but I paid 29.99 for it. Hmmmmm? Gee if only this receipt had stock number on it. The stock number on the shirt I have is 341354141114 but was I charged for 341354141114 or 874416714313 ?

If a customer brings back a red shirt with no tags which of the 50 different red shirts you carry do you ring up for the return. It could take some research, got the time? Too bad the receipt does not have a stock number on it.

I can assure you that if I removed the stock numbers from the receipts that the majority of users would riot. Could I make it an option? Sure but then we are going down the slippery slope of custom receipts. How many possibilities are there to create custom receipts, hundreds, thousands? Pretty soon there would be no code space to actually ring up the sale because it is all being used to allow all the different variables for custom receipts

[dhUser]

One idea I have for the receipts is that it displays like this:

Code: Select all

ITEM CODE        DESCRIPTION                      PRICE
0203                 ITEM #1              x1      $3.00
7562                 ITEM #3              x2      $5.00 
                        
                        Sub Total         3       $8.00
                        Cash                     $10.00
                        Change                    $2.00

---------------------------------------------------------------
The only other request I have about receipts is that you can control the text displayed on parked receipts. For example, if you wanted to place under the receipt w/ total, Please pay cashier.

dhuser

[Dale Harris]

dhUser,

An interesting receipt.

However it is 54 characters wide and most receipt printers should not print more than 39 characters on a line.

I am assuming that "x1" and "x2" are the number of pieces that are being purchased but I am not sure.

Your receipt does not indicate the unit price for what is being purchased which means that your receipt format cannot be legally used in many locations.

Your receipt does not indicate the tax rate that is being charged for each line which means that your receipt format cannot be legally used in many locations.

Other than that it is fine.

This is not as easy as it looks to make POS software that can be used everywhere. Just this morning someone from the Philippines sent me an email saying that POS systems that have a "no sale" feature cannot be used there and asked me to remove it from DHPOS. I am not sure that this applies to the whole country or just his state/provence.

If you have too much information on a receipt you can just ignore it. if you do not have enough information on a receipt then you cannot legally use the POS system. I try to err on the side of too much.

[Andrew]

I think we should remember DHPOS is intended as a one-size-fits-(almost)-all program. Trying not to be too specific in it's workings and features, to try and please most people most of the time.

[peewee3ie]

Dale

It sounds to me that the person that send you the e-mail does not trust their staff. I personal have never heared that a "No Sale" on a till (POS Software) is legal. I do not know what we would do without the "No sales" as it is very useful i.e if you give back the rong change, need to check the cash or pay for a "cash on delevery".

[Dale Harris]

peewee3ie,

You never know, government fuctionaries can come up with some pretty stupid stuff.

The only difference between them and us is that when we do something stupid other people laugh at us and when they do something stupid it is then the law and then other people have to do it also.

[RollerBall]

Going back to my original posting, any chance that this could be made an option ie have an optional layout without stock numbers? Our local supermarket has no stock numbers on its receipts which would be twice as long if they were included. Anything that comes back has a barcode on it anyway (because its packaged and you can't return it without its packaging) and if its not packaged ..... well, you know, a lettuce is a lettuce! (Actually, even they're packed as a pair in a plastic bag and barcoded.)

[Andrew]

I've worked in a supermarket and having stock numbers on receipts would be a godsend. I hated ringing up fruit and vegetables because the so-called "short-group" list on the POS software was a mile long to accomodate the many varieties, returns were a nightmare as we had a 200% guarantee - a refund and replacement.

Due to the nature of stock control returns were handled very strictly and had to be rung up under the correct stock item or suffer the wrath of the cash office.

As Dale said - this opens too many arguments for fully customisable receipts, as the old saying goes "give them an inch...". You're going to need to rally a lot of support to get this suggestion past "feature triage".

[Dale Harris]

Yep, it is a lot of code to add an additional format to the receipts. And there is little code space left with many important features to come. There would have to be A LOT of users wanting this. For example, on the recent "zeros / rounding" feature, entire countries need this feature or could not use the program at all.

[grantm]

The product number is a good thing to have. Look at Wal-mart. They put it (actually the UPC I think) on their receipts. Also, say someone buys a product at $7.00 and one at $4.00 and they both have simular descriptions and look nearly identical. Now say you reduce the $7.00 one to $4.00. If they would come back for a return (with a receipt) on the $7 one, when you scan it, it will come up $4. But most customers would want their full purchase price back. So you would change the price to $7. But how do you (or your staff, who might not know the precise difference between the two items) know that it was really the $7 item they returned. The cust. could have just made $3.00.

What might be a good idea (although most likely will not be included) it to only print one line when only 1 item is bought. Most places do this. If you buy 2 or more, then it will have the 2nd line that says you bought 2 items.

[RollerBall]

Yep, it is a lot of code to add an additional format to the receipts. And there is little code space left with many important features to come.

I go along if that's the case and it couldn't be an 'If FLAG=1 then print else don't print' type of thing, that's for sure.