A frag tank and a camera roll
Your marine section has a frag tank with dozens of small coral frags on plugs, plus a few larger colonies in display systems. Each one is different: colour, size, growth form. Your marine specialist photographs new frags on a phone, posts some on social media, and writes prices on a spreadsheet and on little tags stuck to the rack.
A customer messages about a frag they saw online. The specialist is off, and nobody else can tell from the photo which plug it is. At the till, frags are rung through on a coral key at the price on the tag, if the tag has not fallen off. The frag sold on Saturday is still being advertised online on Monday, and two more people message about it.
Why one-off stock is hard to manage
Tills and websites are built for products that repeat: many units with one barcode and one price. Coral frags are closer to art: each is unique, priced on its own merits and sold once. That does not fit the usual tools.
- Each frag has no barcode or product record of its own.
- Photos live on one person's phone.
- Prices are on handwritten tags and a spreadsheet.
- The till sells frags on a generic key, so nobody knows which one sold.
- Online and social posts are not updated when a frag sells.
What the camera roll costs you
Customers who enquire about a frag that has already gone are disappointed, and staff spend time answering messages about stock that no longer exists. Frags sold on a generic key at the wrong price, because a tag fell off or was swapped, are lost margin. Without a record, you cannot see which types of frag sell quickly, what they fetch, or how long they sit.
It also makes the whole marine section depend on one specialist, because only they know which frag is which.
A record and a code for every frag
- When a frag goes on sale, staff create a record on a phone: photo, type, size notes, tank and rack position, and price.
- A small waterproof tag or plug label is printed with a unique code, which your till scans to sell exactly that frag at its price.
- Frags are listed automatically on your website with their photo and price, or on a simple frag page if you do not sell online.
- When a frag sells at the till or online, it is marked sold everywhere at once, and the listing disappears.
- Customer enquiries about a frag can be matched to its record by code, so any member of staff can find it.
- Reports show sell-through by coral type and price band, and frags that have been on sale for a long time.
| Task | Spreadsheet and phone | Frag records |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | A photo on one phone | Unique code and record |
| Price | Handwritten tag | Stored and scanned |
| At the till | Generic key | Scan sells that frag |
| Online | Posts not updated | Listing removed on sale |
| Insight | None | Sell-through by type and price |
How corals are grown, cut and kept is your specialist's craft. The system only handles identity, price and sale.
A frag tank that sells itself
New frags are photographed and tagged as they go into the tank. Customers browse the frag page on your website or social links and message about a specific code. Any staff member can find it in the tank by rack position and sell it at the right price.
When a frag sells, it disappears from the website straight away. The specialist can see which coral types move fastest and price new frags with evidence, and the section keeps running on their day off.
Is your frag tank run from a camera roll?
- Frag photos live on one person's phone.
- Prices are on handwritten tags.
- The till sells frags on a generic key.
- Customers ask about frags that have already sold.
- Only one person knows which frag is which.