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Independent groceries & markets.
Apples by the pound. PLU 4011 for the banana. EBT split tender, two receipts, federal-rule compliant. Manufacturer coupons scanned and reimbursed. Case-break receiving — buy 24, sell singles. The hard stuff most POS gives up on, built in.
What's in the Grocery starter
- •10 departments: Produce, Dairy & Eggs, Bakery, Pantry, Frozen, Beverages, Alcohol, Household, HBA, Deli.
- •150 items pre-loaded with their PLU codes (produce industry standard — banana is 4011, organic banana 94011, etc.).
- •EBT eligibility set automatically per department — alcohol and household marked ineligible, produce and dairy eligible.
- •Tax rules built in for prepared food vs grocery vs candy vs soda — varies by US state, sorted out for you.
A real basket
Bananas 0.42 kg @ $0.59/lb, bread, milk, a six-pack of beer:
- PLU 4011 → 0.54 $ (scale-priced)
- BAKERY-WHEAT → 3.49 $
- DAIRY-MILK-1G → 4.20 $
- ALC-BEER-6PK → 9.99 $ (EBT-ineligible)
Customer pays with EBT: card covers the 8.23 $ eligible portion. The 9.99 $ beer goes on the second tender. Two receipts print. Customer leaves happy, books are clean.
Built for thin-margin shops
- •Sold by weight. USB scale plugged in, scan the PLU, place on the scale, price computed.
- •EBT / SNAP split tender. Eligible items on EBT, the rest on card or cash. Two receipts. Federal-rule compliant.
- •Case-break receiving. Buy a case of 24, sell singles — receiving the case adds 24 to the singles stock.
- •Manufacturer coupon scan. Customer hands you a coupon; we match it to the basket and log the redemption for reimbursement.
- •Department margin. Produce makes 35%, dairy 18%, alcohol 22% — see it in one report.
- •Days-on-hand for perishables. 2% milk expires Thursday? Markdown agent flags it Monday.
Why not the cheap option?
- vs Square (free)PLU codes work as item lookups but the sold-by-weight flow needs a scale that types into the cashier's screen. EBT integration is on the roadmap (still). Multi-tender split for SNAP-eligible items is manual.
- vs Clover ($80-150/mo + lease)EBT-capable through a paid app + a separate Verifone terminal. Hardware lease and processing lock-in. Manufacturer coupon scanning needs a third-party Clover app.
- vs Legacy POS (Smith Micro, IT Retail, etc.)Often Windows XP / 7 in the wild. Capable on paper, brittle in practice. Replacement parts hard to source, security updates stopped years ago.
Moving from Square, Clover, or a legacy gas-station POS?
- →Item catalogue + customer list import via CSV. PLU codes carry across — they're standard four-digit produce codes (4011 banana, 4061 lemon, etc.).
- →EBT requires a separate processor (Verifone Mx915 or Ingenico iSC250 — common rentals); the POS doesn't process EBT directly, it splits the basket and prints a second receipt for the EBT terminal.
- →Tax rules per department (prepared food vs grocery vs candy vs soda) are pre-loaded for US states; verify against your local rates at setup.
- →If you're leaving Clover hardware: keep the cash drawer and printer, drop the rest. Honeywell Voyager scanners and CAS scales work as-is.
Frequently asked questions
- Does sold-by-weight actually work — apples by the pound?
- Yes. USB scale (CAS LP-1 or Brecknell 6710U) plugs into the iPad; scan the PLU, place on the scale, price computes. The scale-side label-printing version (CAS LP-1000) handles deli pre-pack.
- How does EBT split tender work?
- The basket auto-splits into EBT-eligible and non-eligible. The customer's EBT card runs through a separate PIN-pad (Verifone Mx915 or Ingenico iSC250) for the eligible portion; the rest runs through your Stripe Reader. Two receipts print — federal rules.
- Manufacturer coupons — how do those work?
- Scan the coupon's UPC; the system checks the basket for the matching product, applies the coupon, and logs the redemption for reimbursement. Coupon CSV report exports for your Inmar / NCH submission.
- Case-break receiving?
- Buy a case of 24 cans from the wholesaler; receive against the supplier's PO — 24 added to the singles stock. Sell singles normally. The case price → per-unit cost is computed automatically for margin reports.
- What about expiry-date tracking on dairy?
- Lightweight: set a sell-by date at receive time; the markdown agent flags items inside the configurable warning window (default 3 days). Not full FIFO lot-tracking — that lands in a future bump.
Recommended hardware
- •Till: iPad or Android tablet on the counter.
- •Receipt printer: Star TSP143IIIBI with auto-cutter.
- •Scale at the till: CAS LP-1 or Brecknell 6710U (USB).
- •Label-printing scale (deli): CAS LP-1000 with built-in label printer.
- •Barcode scanner: Honeywell Voyager 1450g (handheld) or Datalogic Magellan 9300i (bi-optic, high-throughput).
- •EBT/PIN terminal: Verifone Mx915 or Ingenico iSC250 (US — separate processor from Stripe).
- •Card terminal: Stripe Reader M2 for non-EBT cards.
New to this vertical? Read the grocery & market buyer guide →
The hard stuff, handled.
PLU, weight pricing, EBT, manufacturer coupons — built in.