How to set prices using Meku reports

Many prices are copied: from the previous owner, from the supplier’s suggestion, or from “what everyone else charges”. That works until your supplier increases prices, your rent goes up, or another shop opens nearby. Then you need real numbers. Meku’s reports are where those numbers are.

What you need before you start

At least one week of sales recorded at your POS
Your expenses for the same week recorded (see How to track business expenses on Meku)
Readiness to learn which products really make you money

Step 1: Open Reports → Revenue

The large figure at the top shows your total sales for the period you choose: today, this month, this year, or any two dates. The small chart beside it shows the direction: flat, growing, or falling. Below it you see how customers paid: cash, mobile money, credit, and your other accounts.

Do not ignore how customers paid. If 40% of your weekly sales are on credit, your sales figure is much higher than the cash you actually have.

Step 2: Look at your best-selling products

Look at them by the number sold, and then by the money they bring. The two lists are usually different, and the difference teaches you something.

Products that bring a lot of money but sell few units earn the most for you. Protect them.
Products that sell many units but bring little money bring customers into your shop. They are useful, but do not depend on them for profit.
Products that are high on both lists are your best products. Do not change their price.
Products that are low on both lists: stop selling them, or try a different price.

Step 3: Compare with your profit

Open Reports → Profit. It shows your sales, less what you bought and what you spent, and the result at the bottom is your profit. The top of the page tells you whether you made money in this period.

The first time you open this page, you may be happy or you may be worried. Both are useful. The number is the truth, so start from it.

Step 4: Test a new price

Choose one product that sells a medium amount. Increase its price by 10%, and watch its sales for one week. If it sells almost the same number, the higher price was always possible, so keep it. If sales fall by more than 10%, return to the old price. This is the cheapest way to learn what your customers will pay.

Tip: Never change more than two prices at the same time. If you change ten prices and your sales change, you will not know which price made the difference.

Step 5: Compare one period with another

Choose this month and note the totals. Then choose last month. The difference shows you where your business is going.

If your business is growing, do this once a month. If it is struggling, do it every week until things improve.

Common questions

Why does the revenue report not show profit? Revenue is what you sold. Profit is revenue less what you spent. They are on different pages because they answer different questions. Open Profit when you want the real result, and Revenue when you want to understand your sales.

Why is the revenue from online orders less than what the customer paid? Online orders include a service fee and a delivery fee that the customer pays. Your revenue is the price of your products only, which is what you keep. The service fee goes to Meku and the delivery fee goes to the delivery company.

How often should I look at this? Once a week is best. Every day is too often, because one good day changes the picture. Once a month is too late, because a bad pattern is already three weeks old.