Having the right hardware for your business can make a big impact on your business. Believe it or not, printers control the following - all in a single tap on the POS;
- Production Dockets being printed in your Kitchen, Bar, Barista or another production areas (or all of the above). Or via the Bump Screen (if you'd prefer to run paper-free)
- The cash drawer pops open for cash sales
- Customer receipts are printed (if you aren't emailing the invoices)
As you can see, printers are a vital part of this process and, buying the wrong printer can be a costly mistake.
This guide will help you to decide what type of printer you need (if you need one at all) and, will direct you to the next step - the actual setup.
Ready to get printing? Let’s go!
What's in this Guide?
Do I even need a printer setup?
Lightspeed App printing vs. Intelligent printing: Which is for you?
Do I even need a printer setup?
The future is now. More and more businesses are going paper-free.
Lightspeed natively supports paper-free with;
- Bump Screens for your Production Area/s
- Email receipts for your customers - the few that are still asking for them that is - saving you a ton of cash on the purchasing and operating cost of printers (thermal paper is not getting cheaper!)
But we also know that in some situations there is no replacement for paper (yet!).
From the Point of Sale, you may need to print these:
Send orders to all your production area - printing them when;
(1) An order is placed
(2) You need to call a new course for serving (You'll need our Courses add-on for this)
(3) You need to print new order modifications to the kitchen (You'll need our Courses add-on for this)
Pro Tip - If you need separate or duplicate dockets - you can designate what production dockets gets printed where.
You can, for example, assign one printer to print beverage dockets and another for pastry dockets. That’s how much control you have!
Customer Receipts / Tax Invoices
Lightspeed gives you the option to print receipts - automatically with each sale, prompt with each order or, not at all. You can also send them via email.
Lightspeed App printing vs. Intelligent printing: Which is for you?
Lightspeed App Printing
Lightspeed App Printing is for you if…
You are going to print from the Lightspeed App POS using any of the devices below:
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Intelligent Printing
Intelligent Printing is for you if…
You are going to print from Lightspeed POS using any of the below:
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(often touchscreen, but not always) |
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Browser Compatibility - Lightspeed is developed and optimised for use with Google Chrome. Best if you make sure you have the latest version.
Isn't it all just computers talking to computers?
Well... printers talk in a special type of printer language. In the Lightspeed Apps available on iOS and Android, we have been able to weave in the translations to make be able to talk to a run-of-the-mill non-intelligent printer.
Unfortunately, because Windows and MacOS computers run Lightspeed through an internet browser (& the Albert is a secure bank terminal) we haven't been able to do the same thing - so we need to rely on the Epson Intelligent printer to translate the computer language into the printer language it (and any secondary printers it controls) can understand.
If, for example, you have 1x Windows and 1xiPad you will still need intelligent printing because the Windows POS needs the translation.
Frequently Asked Questions
I'm only using my Windows/Mac laptop to use the back office - do I still need an intelligent printer?
No, only if you are using the Windows, Mac or, Albert to take orders on the POS screen would you need an intelligent printer.
What's my next step?
Is intelligent printing for you? Learn about choosing and setting up your intelligent printer system.
Or, is Lightspeed App printing for you? Learn about choosing and setting up your Lightspeed App printer.
Do you already have all the hardware you need for your system? Let’s talk about what hardware you can connect to your very own Lightspeed system.