Selling Today's Receipt Printers

Store receipts have a new look - and retailers a new form of advertising - thanks to advancements in receipt printer technology. Today's receipts include a list of items purchased and their costs. It's also common to find logos (possibly two-color), coupons, and advertisements on receipts. Advances such as these help retailers encourage repeat business from new customers. Two receipt printer vendors say recent advancements, such as custom receipts, mean greater selling opportunities for VARs. Patrick Frimat is vice president of North American sales for Axiohm Transaction Solutions, Inc. (San Diego, CA). Axiohm is a designer and manufacturer of thermal and impact receipt printers with 1,600 employees and revenues in excess of $200 million. David J. Brooks is vice president of sales and marketing for OMNIPrint (Irvine, CA). OMNIPrint manufactures a full line of receipt printers and POS peripherals.

Selling Features
VARs should focus on a number of tactics to increase receipt printer sales, say Brooks and Frimat. These features include the following:

Cost of ownership - VARs should examine how much the receipt printer will cost over a five-year period. Frimat says answering this question helps VARs evaluate different types of printers. Thermal printers, for example, have no moving parts that could break down, reducing service fees. "Thermal printers are often seen as a more reliable choice from the service side. However, they are more expensive initially," Frimat explains. The impact printer has a lower initial cost but may require more service.

Supplies also affect cost of ownership. In a six-month period, there would be little difference in the cost of supplies for a thermal printer versus an impact printer being used in the same application, says Brooks. Ink jet printers, on the other hand, use more expensive consumables. An ink jet cartridge costs approximately $10 - $35 compared to $1.50 for an impact printer ribbon.

Drivers - Receipt printer drivers (disks containing programming language to make the printer work) must be compatible with computer software, and not all are, says Brooks. There is, however, a move toward standardization, he says. "Windows drivers are now standard in most new receipt printers due to the proliferation of Windows-based POS systems," says Brooks.

Even when incompatibility exists, the correct driver may often be easily obtained. Because they are electronic files, printer drivers can be easily downloaded from a vendor's Web site or sent via the mail. Frimat advises VARs to choose vendors who offer in-house support to help them should problems such as driver incompatibility occur.

Paper loading - End users want to "pop paper in and out of a receipt printer in a matter of seconds," says Brooks. In an effort to meet customer demands for smaller footprints, paper rolls may be outside of, rather than inside, the printer. However, Brooks says some new receipt printers aren't appropriate in all applications. "Hotels and restaurant kitchens typically hang printers on the wall to keep them clean and out of the way," he says. These printers, when designed with easy-open covers, can't be hung on the wall. The covers flip open and the paper roll falls out, Brooks explains. Thus, VARs may find it difficult to find suitable replacements for some customers' older, wall-mounted printers.

Frimat agrees that many customers look for the easy-open feature. However, he says it doesn't necessarily mean the printer can't be wall mounted. For example, hanging certain printers upside down keeps the paper roll inside.

Analyzing Changing Technology
As with any technology life cycle, receipt printers are decreasing in price. To maintain margins, Brooks and Frimat recommend VARs keep up to date with the latest standards and concentrate on integration.

Brooks predicts that receipt printers will be purchased off-the-shelf within the next two years at computer superstores. "New POS software and hardware standards will make receipt printers truly plug and play," says Brooks. These standards include OLE (object linking and embedding) and OPOS (OLE for point of sale). They are used by POS software developers and hardware manufacturers to design compatible products.

Frimat disagrees that printers will soon be sold in stores such as CompUSA. He agrees, however, that integration is key for VARs to add value, especially since receipt printers often operate in unattended environments, such as kiosks. VARs will need to focus on selling hardware from vendors that offer proper integration and service support. "The bottom line is that VARs who rely solely on hardware margins may soon find themselves out of business," says Frimat.

Frimat advises VARs to choose a flexible platform. "The old standards of serial, parallel, and RS-232 connectivity are not fast enough to accommodate graphic receipt printing, for example," says Frimat. The industry is moving toward USB (universal serial bus) and Ethernet as the new standards. One benefit of using USB is that it transmits more data to the receipt printer faster, Frimat explains. This is especially important in applications where graphics and coupons are printed on receipts.