Choosing a receipt printer
Swann Retail prints receipts to a standard thermal (ESC/POS) receipt printer — the same kind every store till uses. There are two ways to connect one: a network printer reached through a small print agent, or a USB printer plugged straight into the register computer. This page is about what to buy; for setting it up in the app, see Receipt printers & devices.
What a network printer needs
Section titled “What a network printer needs”If you’re putting the printer on your network (so any till in the store can print to it), look for these three things:
- 80mm thermal, ESC/POS. The standard receipt-printer size and language. Almost every counter receipt printer is ESC/POS — Swann Retail speaks it directly.
- Wired Ethernet with raw printing on port 9100. Also written RAW, JetDirect, or AppSocket on a printer’s spec sheet — it’s how network thermal printers normally print, and it’s the path the print agent uses.
- A drawer-kick port (RJ-11 / RJ-12) if you want the cash drawer to pop automatically. The cash drawer plugs into the printer, and the printer opens it at the end of a cash sale.
Wire the printer in with Ethernet, not Wi-Fi. A Wi-Fi printer can drop off the network and be slow to come back; a cable is the steady, “works every time” path. Bluetooth is only for the mobile case below.
Printers that work
Section titled “Printers that work”| Printer | Best for | Connects by |
|---|---|---|
| Epson TM-m30III (80mm) | Your everyday counter printer | Wired Ethernet |
| Epson TM-T88VII (80mm) | Busy counters and kitchen tickets — higher throughput | Wired Ethernet |
| Star mC-Print3 (80mm) | A compact counter printer | Wired Ethernet (also USB) |
| Star SM-L200 (portable) | Selling on the move — markets, deliveries | Bluetooth |
The Star SM-L200 is the one exception to “wire it in”: it’s a portable battery printer for selling away from the counter. It has no cash drawer and isn’t meant for a fixed till — keep it for mobile selling only.
The cash drawer
Section titled “The cash drawer”The cash drawer isn’t a separate device on the network — it plugs into the receipt printer with an RJ-12 cable, and the printer pops it. Any standard cash drawer with that cable works. If your printer has no drawer-kick port (for example a portable printer), use a USB-trigger cash drawer that opens over USB instead.
Or skip the network: a USB printer
Section titled “Or skip the network: a USB printer”If you have a single till and the printer sits right at it, a USB ESC/POS printer plugged into the register computer is the simplest setup of all — no network printer and no print agent to install. See Receipt printers & devices for the difference, and how to pair one.
- Network printer? Install the print agent on a store PC.
- Then make sure it all hangs together: Setting up your store network.