Price Accuracy, Weights and Measures Audits

Consumers often wonder if they are truly getting what they paid for. To provide such level of assurance, retailers should exercise due diligence to conduct verification of price, weight and quantity, especially for store packaged goods that are most susceptible to errors. Moreover, Price Accuracy (PA) and Weights and Measures (WM) are enforced by regulatory agencies with authority to issue significant fines if errors are observed during audits. UL Solutions’ Everclean^® and its unique solution to provide PA and WM audits (PAWM) are designed to help confirm what you advertise is what ends up on your shelves. 

What is a PAWM audit?

When a PAWM audit is requested by a retailer, a qualified auditor from UL Solutions’ Everclean^® visits the physical retail location and inspects the price tag to the product’s labeling on the packaging to determine if the item accurately reflects the correct price, weight and quantity. The PAWM audit focuses on four key areas:

1. Price Accuracy (PA)—Verifies that the advertised price matches the price at checkout.
2. Weights and Measures (WM)—Confirms that a customer is not being unfairly charged for the cost of the “tare” or packaging of the product. 
3. Full-service tare accuracy—Recommended for store departments (e.g. meat, seafood or bakery counters) that charge by the weight to help ensure measurements are taken correctly.
4. Check stand accuracy—Focuses only on the final purchasing stage to validate that customers are not being overcharged during the checkout process.

What are the benefits of a PAWM audit?

PAWM audits are designed as a proactive approach to handling price, weight and quantity discrepancies, and can help prepare you for a regulatory evaluation. 

PAWM audits include a detailed report of the UL Solutions auditor’s discoveries to assist in identifying trends and opportunities for improvement. Staff training, testing and on-site workshops by seasoned UL Solutions experts can also be scheduled to help assist employees in recognizing pricing and measuring inaccuracies on their own. 

Why UL Solutions?

Our Everclean^® solutions is currently the only third-party auditing firm offering PAWM audits, making our auditors the leading experts in the food retail industry. Our PAWM audits are completely customizable to fit your specific needs for the products you offer at your stores.

Our PAWM audits are in line with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards that are set and utilized by local regulatory agencies when they perform their own inspections, so we can provide you with proper guidance and pinpoint commonly overlooked violations.

To schedule a PAWM audit or to learn more about our Everclean^® solutions, please contact us today.