Mobility of printing – the ability to bring the printer to the task versus bringing the task to the printer – has the potential to change countless aspects of our lives, whether in the context of a retailer/consumer sale on one end of the spectrum, or of a government agency/citizen interaction on the other. Even the simple ability to generate a printed invoice, receipt or citation – on the fly and in real time – can be transformational.
Forward-thinking retailers are embracing the concept of the mobile point of sale, abandoning the constraints of the rigid model of fixed counters and check-out points. As payment options expand beyond cash and card-based formats to include smart-phone applications, Zebra Technologies wireless mobile printers unleash the sale transaction from traditional confines and replace the traditional cash register. As more consumers grow accustomed to online merchandising, it behooves brick-and-mortar retailers to mirror the free-flowing nature of that increasingly familiar online experience, closing the sale when and where the customer is ready.
Retailers are even deploying iPad-equipped sales staff on their retail floors to better reflect the seamless, stream-of-consciousness experience of online shopping. Handing the iPad to the customer, the sales assistant offers, “I think I’ve found a pair of shoes that would go perfectly with that gown,” displaying a high-resolution image of footwear located a floor away, without ever leaving the dressing room of the formal-wear department. Along with the receipt for the gown, the salesperson hands the customer a printout detailing the exact pair of shoes in stock, complete with a barcode by which a shoe clerk locates and identifies the boxed pair, minimizing the customer’s wait and expediting another purchase.
At the other end of our discussion, there is perhaps no more classic and often repeated citizen/government interaction than the parking ticket and traffic citation. Citations printed using Zebra Technologies’ rugged, efficient mobile printers are replacing handwritten tickets and are, in the process, eliminating the repetitive task of manual data entry as well as the errors associated with handwriting of varying legibility. Experience shows that clearly printed citations that detail remittance instructions, including optional payment methods, are more likely to be paid if only because they make it so much easier and convenient for their recipients to do so.