Don't Underestimate Receipt Printer Dynamism

Receipts are no longer just itemized lists of products purchased - they are marketing tools. So, competitive retailers are demanding receipt printers that will help them grow their customer bases and increase sales. Retailers can achieve these goals through color marketing strategies, software integration, and new advances in printer technology. Recent developments in software allow a retailer to better utilize the marketing capabilities of today's receipt printers, and imaging technology now exists within the printer at the POS (point of sale). Added functionality in printers brings on a degree of complexity, however. VARs that can take the difficulty out of implementing such receipt printers can find opportunities to make a profit for themselves.

Business-Building Investments
Marketing and promotional messages on receipts are becoming commonplace. Over the last two years, receipt-based advertisements have increased dramatically. "The reason retailers are turning to their receipt printers for marketing purposes is clear. These messages take the cost of doing business and turn that cost into business-building investments," explains Mark Bauer, vice president of the Americas sales, Ithaca/TransAct Technologies, Inc. (Wallingford, CT). "Consider a restaurant that has a strong lunch and breakfast crowd, but wants to build up its dinner clientele. This business could run different promotional messages on receipts throughout the day to bring in more dinner patrons. These messages can be customized based on the time of day it is, what the restaurant has in inventory, or geographical location." This type of marketing can be done in real time with little cost.

Another example of marketing becoming more prevalent at the POS involves the use of color. Bauer believes black-and-white promotional messages will continue, but color graphics and messages will soon grace many retailers' receipts. Senior Marketing Consultant Barry Wise, Epson America, Inc. (Long Beach, CA), says, "We're going to see the use of two-color become more common, and in the next few years the use of full-color will be available at the POS." Color will become more common, as retailers want to highlight loyalty points, savings, and logos.

Got Software?
"Receipt printers are becoming more application-specific. In the past, there were approximately 10 models of printers; today that number has grown to maybe 50 to 100 different kinds, all of them addressing different applications. As this trend continues, software will become the key for retailers to differentiate themselves," says Yoichi Furukawa, senior marketing manager of POS markets, Oki Data Americas, Inc. (Mt. Laurel, NJ). In other words, retailers will look to VARs to offer them software solutions that are compatible with their receipt printers.

"Software services are more sophisticated than in the past, so VARs need to offer services expanding beyond the hardware," explains Stephen Bergeron, director of sales, Axiohm Transaction Solutions, Inc. (Ithaca, NY). New developments in software have actually helped retailers take advantage of functionality that was formerly underutilized by giving retailers ownership over the designs of their receipts. With these advances, the ability to personalize messages and brand a retailer's store and products specifically to a customer will be more feasible than in the past. For instance, CRM (customer relationship management) software that allows a retailer to control the format and content of receipts is now available to retailers. With this application, a retailer has the power to select where graphical elements occur, and the ability to manage promotional messages, highlights, and loyalty bonuses efficiently.

According to Furukawa, the need for improved functionality depends on the individual retailer. "Cost and the return on the retailer's investment will play a huge role. Some retailers believe the return on this kind of investment will not be very high." This is where a VAR can turn complexity into profit by simplifying and adding value to a receipt printer complete with software.

"When a VAR offsets increased complexity within the receipt printer with more services and more value add, the result is more revenue," Bergeron states. In other words, if a POS VAR takes out the complexity of utilizing a receipt printer integrated with a software solution and helps the retailer see the benefits, profits will follow. Bergeron believes VARs need to do a projected ROI analysis for retailers so they may better understand their business model. This way it is clear how this type of solution could differentiate them from competitors. For instance, implementing the right software and hardware to customize receipts with coupons based on particular criteria, such as a recently purchased item, can be complicated. With a VAR's help, this retailer may come to the conclusion the complexity is worthwhile because the coupons are bringing customers back into the store.

New Advances
Advances in the receipt printer itself are beginning to take place. For example, check imaging technology allows electronic check conversion and imaging technology to be integrated into the receipt printer. Using this type of printer, retailers are able to process a check like a credit card in about 12 seconds, and funds are available to retailers in 24 to 36 hours. It also eliminates the manual check processing that typically takes 5 to 7 days to make funds available to retailers. The cost associated with those processes is also eliminated. When you put a check into the printer, it reads the MICR (magnetic ink character recognition), sends the MICR data out for approval, and when it comes back it prints "void" across the check and then scans its image. The check is then processed electronically, and the image remains on file at the store.

The push for ECP (electronic check presentment) and financial institutions' acceptance of digital images of checks continues to be strong. If digital images of checks become a standard way of payment, VARs who offer this type of solution may be in demand.

Eventually marketing strategies will become more advanced, making VAR expertise a necessity. "VARs have an opportunity to help retailers grow sales in different ways than they have in the past. Most people traditionally look at POS as a business management tool, but as a promotional tool color receipt printing adds a new element of functionality to the whole system," Bauer says.

As receipt printer functionality increases, the need for VARs to help implement these improvements will not be far behind. Wise concurs, "VARs can be passive and let markets and competitors pass them by, when what they need to be doing is look for new ways for retailers to buy technology."