Author: Star Micronics

  • 3 Ways to Retain Customers Using AllReceipts™

    3 Ways to Retain Customers Using AllReceipts™

    More often than not, when you walk into a store to buy something, chances are, you’ve been there before. Customers tend to return to their favorite stores when looking for particular items for a number of reasons. Perhaps the location is convenient for the shopper. The store always happens to have what the shopper needs. Maybe the shopper just likes to stick to what they’re comfortable with. Whatever the reason may be, there is a reason that shoppers continue to return to the same few stores for their particular shopping needs.

    With AllReceipts™ digital receipt app, you can ensure that your store always retains its shoppers and builds customer loyalty!

    AllReceipts™, digital receipt app from Star Micronics, allows customers to digitally store and manage their paperless receipts. But what’s more, AllReceipts™ also allows for retailers to personally engage and communicate with their shoppers to give them a unique and personal shopping experience. These three great features offered by Star Cloud Services, a subsidiary of Star Micronics, allow retailers to better engage and connect with their shoppers to retain customers and build shopper loyalty.

    1. Engage NOW and Messages. Engage NOW and Messages allows retailers to better engage with their customers by giving them the ability to communicate relevant information whether that be promotions, discounts, new arrivals, coupons, or taking the customer directly to their website or desired social media page. With Engage NOW and Messages, the customer can simply tap on the store name, and the retailer’s customer message or website will then appear on the screen.
    2. Receipt Flip. With Receipt Flip, retailers can take full advantage of the entire receipt space by customizing the back. Yet another way to engage with customers, receipt backs can be used to display terms and conditions, store policies, watermark, promotions and marketing material, and more. Simply upload your content into the dashboard to start getting the most out of your receipts.
    3. Customer Survey. The Instant Customer Satisfaction Survey feature allows retailers to receive real-time feedback from customers. When claiming a digital receipt in the AllReceipts™ app, customers are prompted to provide feedback on their experience, which is relayed to the retailer’s user-friendly survey dashboard, allowing them to see how many customers have claimed receipts and the satisfaction level of the service received.

    To learn more about the AllReceipts™ digital receipt app, visit www.starcloudservices.com or www.allreceipts.com.

  • 7 Must-Have Kiosk Technologies

    7 Must-Have Kiosk Technologies

    Self-service technology, including kiosks with kiosk printers, continues to increase in popularity in a wide range of vertical markets. Retailers of all types, as well as quick service restaurants, gas stations, parking lots, casinos, telecommunications companies, transportation providers, and other organizations, are implementing these solutions.

    However, capitalizing on the self-service trend and consumers’ affinity for kiosks in any application – retail or otherwise – necessitates strategic kiosk printer selection. Choosing the right kiosk printer is a matter of understanding the business environment, and customers.

    There are seven ‘must-have’ kiosk technologies and accessories that you will find essential, depending on the application:

    1. Presenter

    A presenter increases security and supports customer privacy by ensuring that receipts are delivered only to the right person;  if forgotten, they remain inside the kiosk where unauthorized parties cannot access them. The presenter also offers other benefits that make it worthwhile. Perhaps most importantly, the presenter prevents paper jams from occurring if receipts are inadvertently left in the printer. This, in turn, decreases the incidence of operating interruptions that cause customer service delays, and have a negative impact on the customer experience. What’s more, with a presenter, there is no opportunity for receipts or other collateral to fall to the floor if it is not delivered to the intended recipient. The end result is a reduction in litter, and cleaner-looking store, restaurant, or other business environment.

    2. Bezel

    The bezel is an alternative to the presenter. Typically positioned between the kiosk slot and the printer, it acts as a guide to push paper out of the kiosk. If the best kiosk printer for your application is not designed to accommodate a presenter, or there is another reason why a presenter would not work with a particular kiosk printer model (e.g., space constraints), a bezel is a viable solution.

    3. Paper status alerts

    Kiosks are typically left unattended for extended periods of time. However, you’ll need to know immediately when a kiosk printer requires more paper. Select a kiosk printer that displays alerts when it is low or entirely out of paper.

    4. Printing status alerts

    Insist on a kiosk printer that’s capabilities include a visual alert to inform customers that their collateral has been printed and is ready for pickup.

    5. Digital receipt support

    Star Micronics’ offers AllReceipts™, the perfect digital receipt application. Additionally, since the printer is constantly connected to a cloud service, customers will have easy access to a device management service. More information can be found on www.starcloudservices.com and www.allreceipts.com.

    6. Drivers

    Kiosk printer software drivers must be compatible with a given kiosk’s operating system, be it Windows®, Mac®, OPOS, or JavaPOS.

    7. Software Development Kits (SDK)

    An SDK is necessary if the kiosk printer works on a mobile operating platform – i.e., Android™ or iOS. There is a huge incentive to also offer a digital receipt solution at an unattended kiosk. It reduces the use of paper and helps customers to keep product and retailer information on their mobile devices.

    Get even more help choosing your kiosk components in our free Guide to Selecting the Right Kiosk Printer.

  • Star Micronics and LOCFOOD Equip Mexico City Cuisine to Operate at Home & On the Road

    Star Micronics and LOCFOOD Equip Mexico City Cuisine to Operate at Home & On the Road

    Mexico City Cuisine, located in Vista, California, offers full catering services for everything from formal dinner parties and corporate events to casual gatherings and weddings – in addition to having multiple food truck locations. Mexico City Cuisine recently made the switch to Star Micronics’ mPOP™ all-in-one cash drawer and printer peripheral POS system paired with LOCFOOD’s CRAVE Vend mPOS software.

    The mPOS bundle provided Mexico City Cuisine with the most practical option for both in-store and off-site locations. The mPOP™ paired with CRAVE Vend software provided Mexico City Cuisine with a mobile solution compatible with the iOS iPad® devices that were already being used for customer transactions. Mexico City Cuisine found the mPOP™ to be the best given its modern, sleek, all-in-one design, and its simple Bluetooth connectivity set-up. What’s more, CRAVE Vend mPOS software paired perfectly with the solution to create a complete mPOS package, allowing Mexico City Cuisine to use the solution in any of its various locations.

     

    MexCityCuisineLogo3 “Star Micronics’ mPOP™ is the perfect solution for us at Mexico City Cuisine,” says Leo Garcia, owner of Mexico City Cuisine. “The all-in-one, compact design of the mPOP™ paired with the CRAVE Vend mPOS software allows us to use the same POS system in both our store and food truck locations with zero inconvenience.” 

     

    CRAVE-Vend-150x150
    “CRAVE Vend originated from seeing Mexico City Cuisine employees use iOS devices in their daily transactions,” says Thuc Luu, Founder of LOCFOOD, Inc. “We are so pleased to have been able to design a full mPOS software to be used with tablet and other mobile devices, and to work with Star Micronics to create a full mPOS bundle that is easy-to-use for retailers and restaurateurs.” 

     

     

    Download the full case study here: Star_Mexico-City-Cuisine_case-study

  • Star Technology Day Recap

    Star Technology Day Recap

    Star Micronics would like to thank everyone who attended our very first Star Technology Day event hosted in Mexico City! Star Micronics had a wonderful time catching up with our customers and partners, and showing off all of Star’s newest technology. We’d like to share some of the highlights from the show for anyone who may have missed out.

    While Star has a reputation for attending a variety of trade shows and events throughout the year, this was our very first Star-hosted event for distributors, resellers, end-users, and software partners. We were very excited to host our own event and showcase some of our newest products and technology.

    The Tech

    Star Micronics spent the day showing off our newest TSP143III thermal receipt printer, now available with Wi-Fi connectivity and simple “Push ‘n’ Connect” WPS connection, making it the easiest wireless set-up in the industry. Also featured was Star’s all-in-one mPOP™, mobile point of purchase solution with built-in cash drawer and printer peripheral for tablet POS. Star was also showcasing our very own digital receipt application, AllReceipts™, which allows customers to store digital copies of their receipts, and provides more customer engagement for retailers with new features such as Engage NOW and Receipt Flip.

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    Powered by Partnerships

    Star was proud to host a number of our software partners, allowing them to demonstrate their POS and mPOS software in conjunction with Star products. Software partners included GoNet, iPOS by Ivan, iZettle, Pacific Soft, MSP, National Soft, MyBusiness POS, SkyPOS, and TouchBistro.

    Thank you again to all who attended and we look forward to seeing everyone next year!

  • Dylan’s Candy Bar Sweetens the Deal with Star Micronics and SuiteRetail

    Dylan’s Candy Bar Sweetens the Deal with Star Micronics and SuiteRetail

    Dylan’s Candy Bar, the world’s largest confectionery emporium and lifestyle brand, recently made the switch to SuiteRetail’s SuitePOS solution which features Star Micronics printers and peripherals.

    The Situation

    Dylan's Candy Bar Interior

    Prior to this installation, Dylan’s experienced inefficiencies with duplicative data entry and had trouble collecting and tracking customer information across their disparate platforms. The result was an inconsistent customer experience. Furthermore, the aesthetic of their traditional POS terminal failed to capture the essence of the brand.

    Dylan’s sought an ERP platform that facilitated a singular unequivocal view of their business. NetSuite was the obvious choice, but the in-store solution proved the most difficult to solve: Dylan’s needed a SAAS solution, seamlessly integrated with NetSuite, robust enough to handle the velocity of their transactions, but attractive enough to compliment the upbeat and modern style unique to all of the Dylan’s flagship stores.

    The Solution

    The POS bundle comprised of SuiteRetail’s SuitePOS for NetSuite and Star Micronics printers and peripherals proved to be the only viable option. No other alternative combined the speed to handle Dylan’s transaction volume, integration with NetSuite, and had the necessary visual appeal.

    Relevant customer information is now captured effortlessly at the point of sale and fed to NetSuite in real-time. In addition, SuitePOS is one of the few POS systems in the world built with a real-time sales tax calculation using Avalara’s AvaTax engine. This is critical or Dylan’s Candy Bar, given the breadth of its product line that is subject to many different sales tax rates and exemptions in the various states in which its flagship emporiums and smaller stores are located.

    The Result

    Dylan's Candy Bar InteriorOne significant benefit of the solution is the ability to track sales of a particular SKU across different channels of the business, eliminating duplicate item creation that occurred with a spreadsheet tracking system — and resulting in improved productivity. The SaaS solution allows Dylan’s to access all POS data and settings through the cloud in one system of record.

    Dylan’s also has improved the consistency of its customer experience and is now better able to garner customer information. Dylan’s uses this information to update its customer database and has successfully used the insights from this data to turn in-store customers into online customers.

    In addition, the solution effectively reflects the aesthetic of the Dylan’s Candy Bar brand.

    “We found the perfect solution in Star Micronics printers and SuitePOS,” said David Reid, CFO of Dylan’s Candy Bar. “The solution is iPad/iPhone-based and offered visual appeal and easy integration that was the perfect fit for our stores. We’re also actively looking at Star’s new all-in-one, the mPOP, given its design aesthetic and potential ‘fit’ at our new smaller locations.”

     

    “At SuiteRetail, we are always looking to pair our POS software with modern, sleek, and super-reliable peripherals that match the SuitePOS brand and reputation. As far as printers, we really only found this with Star Micronics,” said Jeff Schneider, cofounder and director of SuiteRetail. “We love Star’s printers and their new mPOP because they are visually appealing, and their performance is rock-solid.”

  • NRF 2016 Recap

    NRF 2016 Recap

    Star Micronics would like to thank all of those who visited us at NRF Big Show 2016! We had an amazing time interacting with our customers and partners, building new relationships, and sharing information on our newest products and technology. We’d like to share some of the highlights from the show for anyone who might have missed it.

    For Star, trade shows are a way to connect with our customers and partners on a more personal level. We were fortunate enough to have not only a number of partners featuring Star products in our booth, but all over the show floor. With both traditional POS and new mPOS technology and solutions being displayed, Star was able to reach a wider audience and show off both our classic, and our most innovative solutions for the POS and mPOS technology industry.

    mPOP™
    mPOP microsoft interview

    Our new all-in-one POS solution, the mPOP, was the star of our show this year! The mPOP, Mobile Point of Purchase, is Star’s first hybrid for tablet POS that combines a cash drawer and printer peripheral. Along with the number of mPOPs showcased in our own booth with our partners’ software and tablet mounting cases, we found them across the entire show being featured at Intel, Microsoft, MagTek, Celerant, Armor Active, and more!

    TSP143IIITSP100III NRF video

    For the first time, Star Micronics showcased our newest POS thermal receipt printer, the TSP143III, at NRF 2016! Star anticipates the TSP143III to be one of our hit products of 2016. The POS thermal receipt printer is perfect for retail and hospitality with simple “Push ‘n’ Connect” WPS set-up, WLAN connection, USB power source for tablet or mobile device charging, high-speed printing, and tons of other great features.

    AllReceipts

    AllReceipts NRF

    Star Micronics is also expecting big things for AllReceipts in 2016! From Star Micronics Cloud Services, AllReceipts is a free digital receipt solution available on all Star Micronics printer models. With complete demos and free giveaways, people flooded the AllReceipts stand to learn more about how to digitally manage their receipts.

    Star Micronics also had the pleasure of welcoming our Latin America team to the show. It was a great opportunity for us not only to connect with our own team, but to meet the many partners and customers that they have been working closely with as well.

    Overall, it was the wonderful combination of our customers, partners, and our own Star Micronics team that helped to make NRF 2016 a successful show. Thank you again to everyone who attended and we look forward to seeing you all next year!

  • How Bluetooth Printers Expedite Voting

    How Bluetooth Printers Expedite Voting

    There are few people, if any, who enjoy waiting in long lines on Election Day.

    Star Micronics recently teamed up with KNOWiNK, a provider of innovative polling software, to streamline the voting process in Lee County, a notoriously busy municipality. The Lee County Election office in Florida’s Fort Meyers Metro Area handles the election polling for the county’s growing base of over 395,000 registered voters, making voting a costly and time-consuming process.

    Star’s TSP650II BTi and KNOWiNK Get Vote of Confidence from Lee County

    A reliable bellwether in retail and hospitality, Star’s TSP654II series thermal receipt printers offered printing support to KNOWiNK’s polling software platform. Together, Star and KNOWiNK used technology to streamline Lee County’s busy polling season.

    Before KNOWiNK and Star, the voting process was a long, arduous sequence. First, the voter had to present their ID to an agent for verification. Then, they had to sign in to a large, printed voter registry. Once completed, the voter received instructions on where to cast their ballot. Then they would enter their ballot and leave.

    Even after the voter finished, the polling process continued for poll officials. At the conclusion of the poll, the municipality hired temporary workers to scan the individual barcodes on the back of every entry in the sign-in book. This information was then saved in a database that tracks when and which elections the resident voted in to help determine voter behavior—for example, if an individual votes in every election or only state or presidential elections, etc.

    “Voting in Lee County was an expensive proposition, because it took so many manpower hours to run each election,” said Gene Hinspeter, Lee County Election Official. “We decided that it was time to look for a system that would help streamline some of the process, reduce the number of workers needed and save taxpayer dollars.”

    KNOWiNK’s Poll Pad is an all-in-one system that works as an electronic poll book. The solution helps simplify voter check-in and posts instant updates to voter history. KNOWiNK’s Poll Pad enabled the Lee County Election office to speed up the process by scanning barcode information from voters’ driver licenses for identification, accepting and recording signatures on an Apple™ iPad® and storing the information in a database.

    KNOWiNK Poll Pad

    Lee County also selected Star’s TSP654II BTi printer for locations that offer multiple ballot formats. The county explored several mobile desktop printing options, but required one with an auto-cutter for better efficiency, ease of use and speed of service.

    “Having a printed receipt ensures that voters receive the correct ballot without confusion,” Hinspeter said. “Although it seems like a small detail, the auto-cutter was critical. It eliminates the possibility of crumpled or torn receipts that need to be reprinted and slow down the process. Star’s printer had all of the features we needed at a price point that worked within our budget.”

    The TSP654II BTi is Star’s first desktop Bluetooth printer. It is an Apple MFi certified unit that is approved for use with the iPod Touch®, iPhone® and iPad®. The TSP654II BTi is lightning fast, printing 60 receipts per minute. It’s equipped with easy “drop in and print” paper loading, a small footprint suitable for tight spaces and a reliable guillotine cutter.

    TSP650IIWebPRNT_StarMicronics

    With poll workers at ease on a one-touch system designed specifically for them with support from Star’s reliable TSP654II BTi thermal receipt printer, voter check-in now moves at brisk pace. Lines at Lee County polling destinations move quickly, and the call volume from precincts to election officials has diminished drastically.

    “The new electronic Poll Pads and Star TSP654II BTi thermal desktop Bluetooth printers make a huge difference in the time people spend waiting in line to check in and receive their ballots,” Hinspeter said. “We’ve received a lot of good feedback from residents who appreciate the smooth check-in and taxpayer savings the KNOWiNK solution provides.”

    For more information about Bluetooth printing and how it can speed up Election Day processes, contact Star Micronics today!

  • Star Micronics Announces Exclusive Partnership with Sanei Electric Inc.

    Star Micronics Announces Exclusive Partnership with Sanei Electric Inc.

    Star Micronics America is pleased to announce its exclusive partnership with Sanei Electric Inc. to expand its kiosk solution offerings with two-inch (SK1-20 Series), three-inch (SK1-30 Series) and four-inch (SK1-40 Series) thermal kiosk printer series as part of the company’s continued commitment to the growing kiosk market.

    The SK1 line of thermal kiosk printers provides dependable, maintenance-free printing with a quick speed of up to 200mm/sec with 203 dpi resolution. The diverse SK1 Line of kiosk printers provides horizontal, vertical and drop-in loading paper formats for the SK1-20 Series and SK1-30 Series and horizontal paper format for the SK1-40 Series. Presenters are available on select models for the entire SK1 Line of kiosk printers. Additional options include large paper roll holder and bezel paper detector for the SK1-20 and SK1-30 Series.

    SK1-31_Llg                                                              SK1-41_Rlg

    The SK1 line of thermal kiosk printers offer a variety of features, accessories, and sizes to meet virtually every kiosk application, including gas pumps, airline e-ticket/boarding passes, ATMs, bus/rail tickets, gift registries, Internet access terminals, lottery/gaming, and maps/direction kiosks.

    To learn more about Star Micronics printers, visit www.starmicronics.com.