Somerset, NJ – Oct 21, 2019 – Star Micronics, a leading global manufacturer of mobile, point of sale (POS), and customer engagement technologies, is excited to announce the debut of the mCP30 POS printer, the latest addition to the mC-Print3 family.
This high-quality and cost-effective printer features the reliability Star Micronics products are known for, and is a simpler edition to the mC-Print3 family. With the removal of the USB hub which other mC-Print models include, the mCP30 simplifies the user experience for small- to medium-sized restaurant and retail operations without compromising on power, speed, or sophistication.
The mCP30 is still equipped with a stylish, front-loading design, Print Flat Technology, and a variety of connectivity options, including USB, LAN, and CloudPRNT/WebPRNT, making the printer perfect for any application.
With a compact design, the mCP30 works well in any environment where space is limited. It is easy to integrate through the StarPRNT SDK, and is compatible with Star Micronics Cloud Services.
“When designing the mCP30, we leveraged feedback from our end user customers and ISV partners to create an affordable printer,” says Jon Levin, Product Integration Manager at Star Micronics. “This new, well-appointed printer features the connectivity options businesses need – at an affordable price.”
This is the third part of “Keep the Receipt,” a five-part blog series about the various advantages paper receipts offer to businesses and consumers, and why you should elect to choose to offer – and accept – paper receipts.
Ah, the receipt. Billions of transactions are made each day, and countless receipts are printed. But receipts can do so much more than provide transaction information – they can also be used for marketing, and today on the blog we’re going to share with you why receipt marketing is relevant, what benefits it can offer to retailers, and how to get started with your very own receipt marketing. Read on!
Paper Promotions are (Still) King
If you’re looking to communicate promotion messaging to your shoppers, look no further than the paper receipt. Yes, it’s true: even in the digital age, paper promotions are (still) king!
Did you know:
88% of all consumers use paper coupons
48% of consumers look for print coupons on a weekly basis
2/3 of milliennials look to paper coupons for offers to save money
90% of affluent shoppers use coupons
85% of consumers look for coupons prior to visiting a retailer
71% of consumers said they would use a featured coupon code from a print advertisement to buy online
…and the list goes on and on! Check out our coupon infographic to learn more.
And guess what? Coupons are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to things you can promote via receipt. Keep reading to learn about other ways to leverage receipt marketing.
Receipt Marketing Enables Retailers to:
Provide Promotions to 100% of (High Quality) Customers
Ensuring your marketing communications reach the correct recipients is very important, and receipt marketing can help you do just that.
As we mentioned in our previous Keep the Receipt blog post, according to Pew Research, 19% of Americans don’t own a smartphone. By delivering printed promotions, you avoid inadvertently bypassing a large demographic of potential customers.
Another benefit of providing printed promotions is that your messaging is sure to reach high-quality customers. Unlike other marketing channels where you’re lucky to reach valuable leads, by presenting printed promotions to your customers at the point of purchase, you’re not just nurturing a lead, but boosting customer retention. This is of utmost importance in a world where most items can be found in multiple stores, and shoppers can be tempted to spend their dollars elsewhere.
Marketing can get expensive – really expensive. Direct mail can cost between 30 cents to over $10 per person, while social media ads can cost several dollars per ad click! It’s easy to see how the cost of advertising can get out of hand, even for a small business.
On the other hand, when you leverage receipt marketing with Star printers/paper, it costs only $1.50 … per thousand receipts/promotions! And let’s not forget, those printed promotions are ending up in the hands of shoppers already in your store, who are likely more liable to return to the store than a brand-new prospect from a direct mail campaign.
Onboard Customers to Other Marketing Initiatives
So maybe at this point you’re still not on board with receipt marketing. You want to direct traffic to digital platforms like your social media account, loyalty program, or online review website. Well, receipt marketing can help with that, too.
Take, for example, loyalty programs: they’re great for retaining customers by offering special, personalized rewards. But how do you get your shoppers to sign up for your program in the first place? Sending an email about it will likely end up unopened in their junk/promotions email folder. Posting on social media about it might get you a few likes, but chances are it’ll largely go unnoticed.
By placing a QR code on your receipt promotions, you can have your cashier inform the shopper face-to-face about your loyalty program, and let them know all they need to do is simply scan the code on the receipt to sign up – no extra clicks or navigation necessary. Receipt marketing can act as a great bridge between a brick-and-mortar environment and the added digital benefits consumers want.
Directly Request Feedback from Customers
Customer feedback is worth its weight in gold. But unfortunately, many times consumers aren’t motivated to leave a review unless they are feeling disgruntled. Change that with receipt marketing! By using tools like Star’s Customer Survey, you can provide “instant” customer satisfaction surveys in conjunction with AllReceiptsTM digital receipts.
Similar to what we discussed earlier in this blog post, you can also use your receipt and a simple, easy-to-use QR code to guide customers to an online review website.
How to Get Started with Receipt Marketing
Okay, so everything above sounds great, but how do you get started? It’s very simple if you are using a Star printer!
With PromoPRNT, Star’s value-added receipt marketing tool, you can customize promotions from templates that print directly on the bottom of your receipts. And because the tool is cloud-based, you can create, schedule, and manage promotions from anywhere.
Featuring StarPRNT emulation, higher reliability, and improved performance
Somerset, NJ – Oct. 10, 2019 – Star Micronics, a leading manufacturer of mobile, point of sale (POS), and customer engagement technologies, is excited to announce a new generation of its SK1 kiosk printers, the SK1-211 and SK1-311.
The SK1-211 and SK1-311 will ship standard with StarPRNT emulation, which will allow software developers to take advantage of the full stack of Star Micronics technology, such as the StarPRNT SDKs and Star’s powerful line of drivers. Software developers that have already integrated Star products can now easily swap or extend their applications from a desktop printer to a kiosk printer. ESC/POS is still available for legacy integration.
When used with Windows drivers, StarPRNT emulation also enables developers to take advantage of PromoPRNT, Star Micronics’ cloud-based marketing tool which allows for custom-designed promotions to print on the bottom of receipts.
The new generation of kiosk printers will also have a longer paper cutter life (2 million cuts), a faster printing speed (250 millimeters per second), and easy paper loading via a thermal head open function.
New options will be offered for the SK1-211 and SK1-311, including an LED presenter and anti-paper jam bezel, in addition to current options including a bezel, LED bezel, presenter, and larger paper roll holder.
Featuring the same outer dimensions and variety of install positions as the SK1-21 and SK1-31, the new generation of kiosk printers will have USB and serial default interfaces, and a small, compact, and lightweight footprint.
“We’re very eager for this new generation of kiosk printers to streamline point of sale environments,” said Christophe Naasz, Director of Business Development at Star Micronics. “Not only are these new products faster and more reliable, the addition of our modern StarPRNT emulation will allow easy integration of kiosk solutions into any environment already featuring Star printers.”
Thinking of adding or replacing a POS scale in your store (or product offering line)? Scales are used in a variety of businesses, including: cannabis (production and dispensaries), grocery/deli, jewelry, yogurt shops, spice shops, pharmacies, candy/chocolate stores, coffee shops that sell beans by the pound, and more. They’re important for shoppers and business owners alike, ensuring the correct amount of goods is being sold – no more, no less – at the correct price.
There are a couple important things to keep in mind when it comes to POS scales. First, all scales are not created equal – to get the most out of your investment, you need to carefully align your scale to your business use case. And second, you need to have your scale(s) certified, and calibrated and maintained by a certified service company.
Does that sound daunting? Don’t worry – below we’ll teach you how to choose a POS scale, as well become informed on scale regulations in your state.
First and foremost, it’s important to choose a scale that aligns with the product that will be measured. The below scales offer an option for nearly any business:
The mG-S322: This scale is accurate down to the hundredth of a gram, and is used in highly sensitive realms, like pharmacy and cannabis. Included with the scale is a windshield for even the most demanding scientific environments. It is legal to use in all states where cannabis is legal.
The mG-S1501: This scale is really the jack of all trades. It’s a versatile scale which measures down to the tenth of a gram, and also has four other units of measure. If you’re not sure which unit you will be measuring, this scale can adapt. Also, it is legal in some states for cannabis but it can only measure in certain amounts of weight.
The mG-S8200: In the market for grocery, deli, or frozen yogurt? This is your scale! The mG-S8200 is a conventional scale that can weigh goods up to 18 pounds, but can also measure down to the gram.
The Star mG-Scales Series
Connectivity
Next thing to consider? Connectivity options. Look for a scale that comes with multiple interfaces, like serial, USB-B, and Bluetooth BLE (all three of Star’s scales come with all of these options). For legacy POS, make sure a serial interface is also present (again, Star’s scales have that).
Having a variety of connectivity options all on the same scale is important because you know you won’t need to replace the scale anytime soon, and you can maximize your return on investment (ROI). Running a legacy POS but want to move toward a more modern POS? Having a serial interface can help you easily swap your old scale out without purchasing any other hardware. Plan on moving to a tablet-based Bluetooth connection in the future? Your scale is ready whenever you are, and BLE can provide you with a low-energy portable option.
Software Support
Next on your checklist is software support. A good rule of thumb is to make sure your scale supports Windows, iOS, and Android. Having this support helps you prepare for the future of retail, where everyone uses a tablet instead of a PC. And you guessed it: all three of Star’s scales support all three software.
Power Options
When it comes to power, you need to ask yourself, “Where will my scale be used?” A traditional power supply is great for traditional brick-and-mortar stores, with standard POS.
However, it’s a good idea to choose a scale that also comes with a battery option, like Star’s. A battery-operated scale is a great choice for farmer’s markets, food trucks, and more, because while typically businesses need to bring a generator to power their POS, with a battery-operated scale they no longer need to. Some extra benefits that a battery-operated scale can offer is a clean, wire-free footprint, and the ability for software to still work even in the case of a power outage.
Important POS Scale Regulations
State-Specific Regulations
Now on to the fun important stuff. It’s extremely important to remember that nearly every state requires a State Certified Technician do scale installation, calibration, and registration.
So how do you get started? First thing’s first: contact your local Weights and Measures office to get information and first steps on how to get your scale ready for use legally.
State requirements can range from only getting the scale inspected after installation, to requiring you to file a request to have a certified installer come to your store to calibrate and lock your scale, followed by a Weights and Measures employee coming to examine the scale and issue a one-year seal (if it passes the examination). In those cases, if the scale fails the examination, a technician must return, redo the process, and then the scale must be re-examined. Long story short, do not try this yourself – be sure to choose a trusted technician! Our Scales Support webpage can help you find a nationwide partner.
Registration
In most states, registration with the Weights and Measures office needs to be done by a certified company. This registration usually expires each year, and gives the Weights and Measures office permission to come and test the scale without notice. If the scale fails the test the store can be fined, so be sure to use a certified company for all of your scale registration, calibration, and maintenance needs.
Calibration
Again, in the vast majority of cases, calibration should be completed by a certified company. Not only will choosing a certified company give you peace of mind, it can also save you serious money. To legally calibrate the scale, extremely precise weights, called F1 Class weights, must be used. These weights can cost nearly $5,000 and need to be kept in a special box with records of usage, maintenance, and more. Why go through the hassle of owning the weights yourself when a service company already has them?
Maintenance
For proper maintenance, a service company should be used once a year to ensure that the scale is still properly calibrated. Hiring a service company for maintenance gives store owners ease of mind that everything is working properly.
Star’s NTEP Certification
Star is proud to offer NTEP-certified scales – which means all three of our scales are legal for trade. In fact, when the scales were first released, Star was the first company to meet the new 2019 NTEP certification! Again, be sure that whatever scale you choose is NTEP-certified, or else it is not legal for trade.
How to Start Planning Your POS Scale Project
Ready to jump into your scale project? It’s best to start planning as soon as possible, so you know what process lies ahead. As a quick summary:
Choose a scale with the accuracy you need,
Choose a scale with future-proof connectivity options,
Choose a scale with flexible power options,
And be sure to stay compliant with your state’s requirements by working with a certified service company to register, calibrate, and maintain your scale.
It’s unmistakable: the leaves are turning, spooky décor is popping up in front yards, and you can’t seem to avoid retail displays piled high with bags of candy. That’s right, it’s almost Halloween!
You have probably done some Halloween marketing for your retail store (or your retail customer’s store) in the past, but have you ever wondered just how popular the holiday really is? How much do consumers spend, and on which products? An even better question is, how do you go about promoting your Halloween message and doing your best to ensure you won’t be “ghosted” by shoppers?
Let’s take a look at Halloween spending this year – here are some fascinating Halloween spending statistics from the National Retail Federation (NRF):
Shoppers say they will spend an average of $86.27 this Halloween
35% cite online search as the top source of inspiration
29 million people plan to dress their pets in costume
68% plan to celebrate Halloween this year
Top spending categories are as follows:
$3.2 billion on costumes
$2.6 billion on candy
$390 million on greeting cards
69% of consumers hand out candy
49% decorate their home
44% carve a pumpkin
32% throw or attend a Halloween party
29% take their children trick-or-treating
22% visit a haunted house
37% planned to start Halloween shopping before October
How to Take Advantage of All That Halloween Spending
Halloween will get a lot spookier if you don’t take advantage of all the holiday has to offer for your retail store (or for your retail customers)!
To help grow sales and customer engagement this Halloween, Star has made it easier than ever to promote ghoulishly good sales and product lines. With PromoPRNT, retailers (or those acting on their behalf) can create custom promotions that print directly on the bottom of the receipt. These promotions can serve as a coupon, funnel shoppers toward an e-commerce site, and more.
This is the second part of “Keep the Receipt,” a five-part blog series about the various advantages paper receipts offer to businesses and consumers, and why you should elect to choose to offer – and accept – paper receipts.
Welcome to the next part of our Keep the Receipt blog series, where we’ll explore the ways that a paper receipt benefits a business’s return on investment (ROI), as well as its customer experience. During a time when options abound for consumers when it comes to retailers and restaurants, it’s important to not only boost cost efficiency, but also optimize the experience customers have from the moment they enter the door, up until the transaction is completed. Read on to discover how paper receipts can help you achieve all of that – and more.
Paper Receipt Benefits | Return on Investment
At the end of the day, businesses need to communicate with shoppers to inform them of transaction details, promotions, return policies, and more. That need is not going away, so the question becomes, what’s the most effective and cost-efficient way to share that necessary information?
Email services can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars a year, while direct mail can cost nearly $1.00 per piece! Receipts, on the other hand, are extremely cost-effective. Printing 1,000 receipts costs only approximately $1.50 – that’s just $0.0015 per receipt!
With a laundry list of expenses including rent, utilities, wages, POS hardware, commerce software, payment processing, and more, saving on regular expenses like receipts and marketing communications can make a big difference for businesses of all sizes.
The receipt is also a very cost-efficient and effective marketing medium. Don’t miss our next Keep the Receipt blog post, where we’ll explore marketing advantages of paper receipts.
Another less obvious way that receipts boost ROI is by increasing the efficiency of the checkout process. When a business chooses to offer paper receipts, no customer contact information needs to be collected at the point of purchase, meaning the transaction can completed in mere seconds. Speeding up long lines and serving more customers, faster? Sounds like a win to us!
Paper Receipt Benefits | A Smoother Customer Experience
Simply put, if you don’t provide your customers with a positive experience, chances are they will begin to spend their money elsewhere. While building an optimal customer experience is a multifaceted endeavor, offering paper receipts is an easy way to help create a more reliable, comfortable experience for shoppers. Here are three major reasons why:
No Need for a Digital Device: Smartphones are great, but putting all your eggs in one basket and only offering digital POS services can be problematic. For starters, according to Pew Research, 19% of Americans don’t own a smartphone. Offering paper receipts is a surefire way to navigate that digital divide and avoid leaving out a significant portion of the population.
Fewer Junk Emails: A whopping 281 billion emails were sent and received worldwide per day in 2018. And while 99% of consumers check their mail every day, that doesn’t mean they open every single one of the emails they receive, especially when it comes to retail emails. That being said, it’s becoming increasingly easy for consumers to misplace their digital receipts, which can cause a headache when going to return or exchange an item, budget the purchase, and more.
A Consistent, Reliable Format: Having a smartphone doesn’t necessarily mean a smooth digital experience: retail stores are built of concrete, brick, and steel, which can block signals and create wireless dead zones. For customers, this poor wireless service can mean difficulty retrieving promotions, proof of purchase, return policies, and more. And even in the midst of a digital transformation, consumers are used to receiving a paper receipt. There’s no question of where to find transaction, promotion, and return policy information when it’s all on a printed receipt safely tucked away in a wallet, not lost in an email inbox. Avoid all of the digital risk by choosing paper receipts (which can include promotions)!
Are you a business owner? Do you find paper receipts valuable, even in a digital age? Let us know in the comments!
Be sure to tune into our future Keep the Receipt blogs, which will take a deep dive into even more topics like marketing advantages, bookkeeping/informational benefits, and sustainable features of Star receipts.
Retail trends come and go, but what’s one thing that’s consistently popular with consumers? Coupons!
In a nutshell, coupons are powerful because they entice shoppers of all types to buy. While everyone loves a good deal, you might be surprised to know that a whopping 90% of affluent customers use coupons – they’re not just for those on a strict budget! And coupons are popular across industries, from retail to restaurants, and everything in between.
Learn more about the enduring prevalence of the paper coupon in our coupon infographic below:
Discover Why You Shouldn’t Underestimate Coupons as a Promotional Tool
Grab your sweater and pumpkin spice latte, because fall is in the air! Consumers love fall-related products and events, and who can blame them? The season’s crisp, sunny days are perfect for fall festivals, apple picking, and munching (and sipping) away on cozy treats.
But just how popular is fall? Hint: VERY, and whether you own a small business or resell point of sale solutions to small businesses, you should absolutely pay attention to the season’s trends. Below is some information to demonstrate just how prevalent fall-related items and events are (even before fall even begins):
In 2017, pumpkin-flavored product sales represented approximately $286 million in the United States alone.
Furthermore, there is a Facebook group dedicated to the return of the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte – with over 34,000 members!
Seasonal beers – including pumpkin beer – represents about 16% of total craft beer sales.
According to Ted Roumanis from brand development and qualitative market research firm Positive, fall marketing can start well before fall: “Yes, we’re in the middle of summer, but there hasn’t really been anything to talk about from a seasonal marketing perspective since July 4th and Memorial Day.”
And one popular junk food-focused Instagram influencersays, “It feels like fall seasonal products appear earlier and earlier each year because there is no official start date to the season. With winter seasonal products, for example, there is a hard start date the day after Halloween. While fall officially starts in late September, there is a large gap between when summer seasonal products debut (around May) and the official start of fall, so companies fill that gap by offering fall products earlier.”
Get Started with Fall Marketing
So now you know how much your customers crave all things fall, how can you start marketing in that space? Lucky for you, it’s incredibly easy!
Whether you’re featuring a special fall sale, pumpkin-related anything, or a fun-packed autumnal event, you can promote all of it – for free – using a Star receipt printer! With PromoPRNT, you can build custom promotions from templates that are featured right on the bottom of receipts, where shoppers are sure to see them.
This is the first part of “Keep the Receipt,” a five-part blog series about the various advantages paper receipts offer to businesses and consumers, and why you should elect to choose to offer – and accept – paper receipts.
There’s no denying it. The world is going digital. But does it make sense to digitize everything?
In our latest blog series, “Keep the Receipt,” we will discuss the myriad of advantages a paper receipt can offer over an emailed one. These benefits range from higher return on investment (ROI) for a business, to bookkeeping benefits for consumers, and everything in between. Don’t just take it from us; in a recent survey, 68% of US consumers said they would rather receive a physical receipt.
While this blog post will give you a brief overview of the different reasons why to keep the receipt, check back for future blog posts that will dive deeper into each benefit.
So, without further ado, here are the four reasons why you should keep your receipt:
1. Return on Investment and User Experience
The ROI when it comes to a paper receipt versus an email receipt is irrefutable. In the next post of our series, we will explore the different ways paper receipts can save businesses a real chunk of change – let’s just say the numbers are eye-opening. Did you know the cost to print a receipt is just fractions of a penny? When compared to direct mail, which can cost between 30 cents to over $10 per person, you can see how easily the savings can stack up.
Our second blog post will also explore how paper receipts offer a smoother, more reliable user experience for shoppers. When you choose to provide paper receipts, you’re helping your shoppers receive fewer junk emails, as well as making it easier to retrieve promotions.
2. Marketing Advantages
One of the great advantages of a paper receipt is that it’s a valuable marketing opportunity for businesses. Our third blog post will discuss the various marketing features a paper receipt can provide, including its ability to successfully deliver messaging to nearly every single shopper, as well as its potential to onboard customers to loyalty programs and grow a retailer’s social media following.
At the end of the day, a receipt communicates information from a business to a shopper. While the above blog post dives into the marketing side of this, our fourth blog will explore the informational benefits paper receipts have. Receipts can help business owners and shoppers alike keep track of:
Itemized purchase information,
Return policy details,
Correct tip amounts,
And much more.
4. Sustainability
We understand that one of the biggest selling points of an emailed receipt is that it can be more environmentally friendly. That may be true when comparing an emailed receipt to a traditional paper receipt that is coated with BPA (Bisphenol A), a controversial chemical. However, in our fifth and final blog post, we’ll explore the reasons Star receipts are eco-friendlier than others on the market, including:
Being BPA-free,
Featuring recyclable packaging,
Including paper reduction technologies,
And more!
Be sure to tune into our future Keep the Receipt blogs, which will take a deeper dive into these topics.
Don’t miss out on our upcoming Keep the Receipt blogs, subscribe to the Star blog! On desktop, you will find a subscription form on the right side of this page; on mobile, you will find it in the footer of this page.
If you’re looking for MMF VAL-u Line® replacement cash drawers, you’ve come to the right place. Star Micronics is so much more than a printer company, and cash drawers are an integral part of our product line.
Our Value Series cash drawers, including the CD3-1313 and CD3-1616, are the ideal replacement for MMF VAL-u Line cash drawers for a variety of reasons: they are an exact replacement for the VAL-u Line drawers, they work with both Star and Epson printers, and they’re feature-packed and ready to pair with your point of sale (POS).
Here are the 3 reasons Star’s Value Series cash drawers are the ideal MMF VAL-u Line replacement:
1. Exact Replacement for VAL-u Line Cash Drawers
Simply put, the Star CD3 Value Series cash drawers are the perfect replace for the VAL-u Line because they are the exact replacement for the VAL-u Line! That’s right: our CD3-1313 and CD3-1616 have exactly the same features and looks as the VAL-u Line. You won’t be able to notice any difference! Can’t get a better replacement than that, can you?
2. Works with Both Star and Epson Printers
Although Star manufacturers printers, we understand that not everyone who is looking for a cash drawer necessarily uses a Star printer, as well. For that reason, our CD3 Value Series cash drawers work with both Star and Epson printers.
3. Feature-Packed and Ready to Pair with Your POS
On top of all of the VAL-u Line features you know and love – which our Value Series has to a T – Star cash drawers also offers the below features:
Available in black or white coated finish to match your existing POS (white finish includes drawer front, as well)
Bottom exit cables included
Ideal for either standard amount of cash capacity, or high-volume cash capacity
Meet Your New Cash Drawer
CD3-1313
13 x 13 standard size
Cost-effective
Exact replacement of MMF VAL-u Line
Durable steel construction and black or white coated finish
Printer driven interface with bottom exit cable (cable included) – works with Star and Epson clone printers
![Long Live the Coupon [Infographic]](https://headless.starmicronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Coupon-Infographic-Header.jpg)
