Choosing a receipt printer for a small shop

A receipt printer is the least glamorous purchase in a shop and the one that causes the most support calls. The printer itself is rarely the problem; the connection, the paper and the way the till talks to it are. This guide covers the choices in the order they matter.

Thermal, and a common language

Almost every counter printer sold today is a thermal printer: it heats the paper rather than using ink, so the only consumable is the paper roll. Most of them understand ESC/POS, a command language for receipt printers that is supported across brands. The publisher of QZ Tray, a widely used print bridge, lists ESC/POS among its supported raw languages alongside label formats such as ZPL and EPL, and names Epson, Star and Citizen among compatible manufacturers. Buy an ESC/POS printer and you are not tied to one supplier for replacements.

Paper width is the other standard to settle: 80 mm is the usual counter receipt; 58 mm is common on small Bluetooth units. Pick one width for the whole business so rolls are interchangeable between tills.

USB, network or Bluetooth

Connection	Best for	Watch out for
USB	A single fixed till on a PC or laptop	The cable length ties the printer to the machine
Network (Ethernet or Wi-Fi)	Kitchen or bar printers shared by several tills	Give the printer a fixed IP address on the shop router
Bluetooth	Phones and tablets, stalls and delivery	Pairing is per device; range is short

A restaurant typically needs both: a USB or network printer at the counter for receipts and a network printer in the kitchen for order tokens. If you expect to grow from one till to two, buy network printers from the start.

How a browser till prints

A point of sale that runs in the browser cannot talk to a USB printer by itself; browsers are deliberately walled off from hardware. The usual answer is a small bridge program on the till computer. QZ Tray is one such bridge: its publisher describes it as "industry printing and more from your web browser", says it is "always free to download and use", runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, has been tested with Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari, and supports USB, serial and network (socket) connections. Kit's own documentation for its Windows till says to install QZ Tray when using ESC/POS receipt printers, and that receipt and restaurant token printing use the same Kit printing flow on the web POS and on the desktop app.

Two practical notes. The bridge must be running before the first print of the day, so set it to start with Windows. And when QZ Tray is first used with a site it asks for permission; the person who sets up the till should answer that prompt once with "remember", not the cashier at the busiest hour.

Cash drawers

Most ESC/POS printers have a socket on the back for a cash drawer. The drawer opens when the printer receives a kick command at the end of a sale, which is why a cash drawer is usually bought to match the printer, not the till. If you want the drawer to open only on cash sales, that is a setting in the till, not in the drawer.

Paper and the EFRIS receipt

If you issue fiscal receipts through EFRIS, the receipt carries a verification code and a QR code. Both must be readable, so buy decent paper, keep the print head clean and replace a roll before it runs out. Receipts fade in heat and sunlight, so keep the shop's own copy in the system rather than on the roll.

A buying list

1. Thermal, ESC/POS, 80 mm, with a cash drawer socket.
2. Network connection if more than one till will ever share it; USB for a single fixed PC; Bluetooth only for phones and tablets.
3. Spare rolls in the right width, stored dry.
4. QZ Tray installed and set to start with the till computer.
5. One test receipt and one test token printed before the shop opens.

Printers are cheap to replace and expensive to argue with. Get the connection and the bridge right once and the printer becomes the quiet appliance it should be.

Sources

1. https://qz.io/
2. https://pos.kit.africa/pos-desktop