I have been assisting clients within the retail, grocery and hospitality market place for the past 11 years. I am amused how many of you still use old IMPACT printers as our receipt printers.
Most of you are familiar with the secondary POS market place, and when it comes to procuring your POS hardware most purchasing agents call around to find refurbished alternatives for their current installed POS devices.
Unfortunately as time passes the older POS hardware such as the IMPACT POS PRINTERS become harder to find and this adversely impacts the price of the refurbished units, you probably are asking why?
The key is that your POS hardware suppliers have to spend more time and resources to be able to deliver these types of older or discontinued products.
Your Refurbish POS suppliers have smaller pools to draw from, and they are yielding lesser quantities of salvageable units. In addition to these the OEM may have discontinued the replacement parts such as cosmetics, print heads.
At the end of the day the cost of refurbished IMPACT PRINTERS have gone up and will be costing you more in the future
Are you still using the old IMPACT, printers such as?
IBM MOD II, MOD III, MOD IV, then you may have already experienced the increase in the price.
Most of you have been contemplating the THERMAL RECEIPT PRINTER for a while now.
I have heard from some that they can not cost justify the THERMAL RECEIPT PRINTER.
Some of the reasons are:
1. Thermal Printers are expensive
2. The supplies cost too much
3. My software won’t support
If you are part of categories 1&2 then I definitely have a recommendation for you.
The cost of a REFURBISHED THERMAL PRINTER are very reasonable and may in most cases be near what you will be spending for an OLD IMPACT RECEIPT PRINTER.
The Thermal printer solution will also enable you to do more with your RECEIPT PRINTER at the counter.
Consider these facts when you are choosing a POS printer for your stores, and I am confident that you'll choose a Thermal Printer.
Also consider the economy and the cost of NEW vs. REFURBISHED, you really need to have options that save you real cash now...
THERMAL PRINTING COST JUSTIFICATION
PAPER ROLL LENGTH
Stock/Plain paper 150 ft per roll
Thermal paper 270 ft per roll
More receipt per roll
Less paper replacement
Less lane down time
Reduces labor to change the paper
CLEAN RECEIPT (33% paper savings)
Consolidation of like items into a single line
(reduces paper usage)
Items can be grouped and/or alphabetized (customer friendly receipts)
Voided and corrected items are not printed
(reduces even more paper)
PAPER LOADING
Less time spent on paper changes
Thermal printers paper replaced in less than 30seconds
Less lane down-time
Quicker checkouts
Reduces training costs
STOCK HANDLING FEES
Fewer cases of paper used/ordered due to:
More paper on each roll
Clean receipt
Fewer Ribbons used/ordered
JOURNAL
Facilitates Electronic Journalling
Completely eliminates the cost of journal roll
Eliminates cost of loading, removing, marking and storing the journal rolls
Journal data in electronic format can be queried when needed
RIBBON COST
Ribbon is only used for printing checks and other inserted documents
Completely eliminates ribbon costs associated with receipt printing
Reduces lane down-time
Reduces labor costs
Faster Transaction Time
Process Customer faster, particularly during peak periods
Higher customer satisfaction
Reduces labor costs
LOWER MAINTENANCE COSTS
Thermal printers have fewer moving parts
Higher reliability
Less required maintenance
ADVERTISEMENTS/LOGOS/SECURITY
Advertisements and coupons can now be printed on the back of thermal paper
Reduces or completely eliminates the paper cost
Logos, water-marks, and front /reverse security printed receipts available
Assists in loss prevention
Reduces costs
THERMAL PRINTING ROI
CONSUMABLES SAVINGS
Journal Paper
IMPACT PRINTER
Lines of Journal Printer per Transaction--------------10
Lines Per Inch---------------------------------------------------6
Paper Per Transaction (inches)--------------------------1.67
Number of Transactions---------------------------------200
Paper Per Register Per Day (inches)--------------333.33
Paper Per Register Per Day (rolls)---------------------1.96
Cost Per Roll-------------------------------------------------$0.50
Daily Paper Cost-------------------------------------------$0.98
IMPACT PRINTER ANNUAL JOURNAL PAPER COST----------$357.70
THERMAL PRINTER
NO JOURNAL PAPER REQUIRED
JOURNAL PAPER SAVINGS----------------------------------------------$357.70
RIBBONS
IMPACT PRINTER
Ribbons Per week Per Register-------------------------2
Ribbons Per Year Per Register----------------------104
Percentage Ribbon Use for Receipts----------------85%
Cost Per Ribbon--------------------------------------------$4.00
IMPACT PRINTER ANNUAL RIBBON COST------------------------$416.00
THERMAL PRINTER
Ribbons Per week Per Register------------------------0.3
Ribbons Per Year Per Register-----------------------15.6
Percentage Ribbon Use for Receipts----------------15%
Cost Per Ribbon---------------------------------------------$4.00
THERMAL PRINTER ANNUAL RIBBON COST-----------------------$62.40
ANNUAL RIBBON SAVINGS----------------------------------------------$353.60
RECEIPT PAPER USAGE / COST
IMPACT PRINTER
IMPACT PRINTERS (200 Transactions / Day)
Paper used Per Receipt (inches)--------------------------------------------27
Total Paper used (Rolls)--------------------------------------------------------16.80
Daily cost ($.50 / roll)------------------------------------------------------------$8.40
IMPACT PRINTER ANNUAL PAPER COST-----------------------$3024.00
THERMAL PRINTER
Thermal Printers (200 Transactions / Day)
Paper Used (inches)-------------------------------------------------------------20
Total paper used (Rolls)----------------------------------------------------------8.33
Daily Cost ($.80 / roll)-----------------------------------------------------------$6.66
THERMAL PRINTER ANNUAL COST-------------------------------$2397.60
ANNUAL PAPER COST SAVING-------------------------------------$ 626.40
SUMMARY
ANNUAL JOURNAL PAPER SAVINGS---------------------------------$357.70
ANNUAL RIBBON SAVINGS------------------------------------------------$353.60
ANNUAL PAPER COST INCREASE-------------------------------------$626.40
ESTIMATED ANNUAL SAVING------------------------------------------$1337.70
The figures shown are estimated, your actual saving may vary.
So you save money by switching from your impact printer and choosing a thermal, not to mention you are saving the environment by using a thermal printer.
There are many options as far as manufacturers in the market place, IBM, EPSON, NCR, ITHACA, STAR are few companies that manufacture Thermal printers.
I do recommend looking into the refurbished units as these will bring great value to your organization, most POS providers can supply or provide you with this option, you simply have to ask your POS vendor.
I do recommend the IBM, EPSON and NCR if you are going to look into the refurbished options, the reason is simply
- These are more readily available in the market place, when it comes to thermal printing these OEM's own 80% of the market.
- Proven Brands, field tested by large retailers, groceries and hospitality companies.
- Support multi I/O and platforms with ease.
As I wrote earlier you need options and solutions that help your company go forward and save you cash. Choosing a refurbished printer will have a positive impact for your POS spending, and most reliable POS vendors can supply you with quality refurbished solutions.
Feel free to contact me or reply to this blog of you have questions, or need more info about how to choose the right POS printer for your store.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
