How to Determine the Right Receipt Printer for Your POS System?

There’s no denying that receipt printers play a vital role in restaurants or retail store’s point of sale (POS) systems. Regardless of their stature, businesses require receipt printers to produce a credit card, print customer receipts or send orders to the kitchen or bar area. Here’s a detailed breakdown of the three main types of POS printers to determine the best for your business.

1. What Are Your Business Needs?

When you are browsing for options on POS printers, you must consider the various business needs.

Impact Printers are skilfully developed with tiny pins and an ink ribbon, which effectively produce dots to form letters on each receipt. These printers typically print in black and red, while along with print graphics. If your business setup has kitchen environments, you could actively look to get impact printers, essentially because the efficiency of the following best alternative (thermal printers) could get negatively affected by kitchen temperatures.

Thermal Printers come good for their quick printing. This type of receipt printer is more accustomed to high-quality printing while also functioning more quietly than the impact printers. Their printing technique involves direct contact between the thermal head and thermal paper, using heat, thereby eliminating the need for any ink or toner.

Ink Jet Printers bring integrated print heads that shoot tiny droplets of liquid ink onto the paper to produce high-quality print, coupons, or colour logos. It’s essential to mention that restaurants and retail stores and small to medium-sized businesses do not typically need Inkjet Printers.

It’s crucial to mention that choosing the ideal printer type is half the job done. The next part of the task is to zero on a specific model. Here’s a detailed breakdown of some essential qualities that you must look for in a POS printer model:

• Compact Design For Increased Counter Space

• Reduction For Cable Clutter

• Cables Included

• Rugged Design For Heavy Use

• Convenient Integration And Installation

• Auto Cutter To Avoid Paper Jams

• Quick Printing Speeds

2. What Is Your Budget?

It is essential to mention that the three printer types discussed in this article all fall into different price brackets. However, your ultimate decision must include your business needs rather than your budget. If you are in pressing need of printing solutions, then you must, by all means, go for a cost-effective solution.

The least expensive of the three printer types available, impact printers come at a price range of $100 to $400. Furthermore, they need minimal operating costs, as well. It’s essential to mention that impact printers are the slowest of the lot as well. However, if you are looking for a quick-service operation or require long receipts, your best choice must include Thermal printers instead. Thermal printers are a tad more expensive than impact printers, with costs ranging from $300 to $500. But they produce quicker and higher-quality printing than any impact printer.

The fact that thermal printers do not require ink or toner allows businesses to make up for their higher initial cost over time. You must only settle for an inkjet printer just if your business needs high-quality print, coupons, or colour logos on your receipts. Also, keep in mind that the expense for ink cartridges replacement is high.

3. Is It Compatible With Your POS System?

There’s no denying the fact that your ideal receipt printer must be compatible with your in-house POS system. It would be best to get the same terminal and printer brand, as developers build their printers to function best with their terminals. An ideal receipt printer must easily connect to a POS terminal with minimal cable clutter.