In today’s very fragmented world of POS solutions, receipt printers are probably the peripheral with the most, yet unexpressed, potential. Printers handle sales data (the very detailed ones) but haven’t advanced any further than just printing them out. There’s a huge opportunity for them to shift from simple printing peripherals to data gateways.

CHALLENGE

The industry of POS printers is about to face a very challenging near future. Receipt printers are no longer part of the classic configuration for new-­generation mobile POS systems. On another side of the market, desktop POS systems are moving towards cloud­-based architectures that cut out all the wired peripherals, including receipt printers. These changes in the industry call for fast conversion of hardware into cloud-­friendly devices, which is typically out of the realm of expertise for printer manufacturers.

OUR SOLUTION

The ProxToMe IoT platform allows for adding cloud capabilities to receipt printers. To bring devices into our cloud environment, they need to be upgraded with a cloud­-ready driver version or a cloud­-ready hardware interface. Printer owners can then access their devices from the web, monitor status and performance, and add/manage new partner services.

BENEFITS

  • Cloud fueled – With ProxToMe, smart printers can print paper receipts sent by the POS system plus content injected in real­time from the cloud.
  • Universally mobile – We reduced the complexity of integrating the many SDKs to 5 lines of code that ISVs have to edit into their mobile POS solutions. This provides super seamless integration for mPOS with any printer, huge savings in development time and cost, and instant connection to the ProxToMe IoT platform.
  • Digital – Besides being printed, receipts can also be stored in the cloud for future use and appear on the smartphone of the shopper, who is just required to be in front of the printer to fetch the receipt right after payment (this specific function requires a companion app running our technology).
  • Control over your devices – The ProxToMe IoT platform allows printer owners to manage their printers in the field, monitor key information such as number of prints and cuts, and get firmware upgrades on the fly.
  • Doors open to the future – The ProxToMe IoT platform provides the toolbox to integrate smart printers with new partner services, which can either leverage sales data or use printers as an addition to the omni­-channel backbone.
  • Plug­-and-­play – The ProxToMe IoT platform doesn’t necessarily need manufacturers to upgrade their printers. In fact, ISVs, VARs, or even end customers can use our IoT technology to get any POS printer connected to our cloud in seconds.
  • Scalable – The ProxToMe IoT platform was designed and already deployed with millions of connected printers in mind. We let our clients focus on growing their business while we provide the right technology that can grow at the same pace.
  • Speed to market – With very low investment, our clients can set up their printers in the cloud and start using the cloud-enabled functionalities to differentiate their products from the competition – which today is merely price-based.
  • Engagement – Printers become powerful devices capable of unlocking rich, two-­way conversations with end customers and giving merchants more opportunity to deepen consumer experiences.