Receipt Printer Helps Seasonal Business Generate Off-Season Sales

Store traffic is important to any retailer, but those that operate in a seasonal business environment like Fairview Greenhouses of Raleigh, NC face a unique challenge when trying to attract customers. They must bring customers into their stores during the off-season when they probably don't need to buy anything. Tracy Hansen, sales manager at P.O.S. Direct, a Carbondale, IL integrator, and Steve Bailey of The Garden Center Group (Ellicott City, MD) worked together to provide Fairview Greenhouses with technology that would help increase store sales during slow times.

Susan Rollins, owner of Fairview Greenhouses, had a marketing plan in mind when she approached Bailey for advice. She wanted to offer customers coupon promotions on their receipts to encourage a trip to the store between the busy seasons. To give these promotions more impact, Rollins wanted to be able to print her logo and the promotional message in color on the receipts. Having worked with Hansen on similar projects in the past, Bailey turned to P.O.S. Direct for help.

Hansen and Bailey provided Fairview Greenhouses with a TransAct Technologies, Inc. (Wallingford, CT) Ithaca POSjet 1000 ink jet receipt printer with color printing capability. Hansen says, "The Ithaca POSjet prints color logos, coupons, and other messages. The ink jet technology enables the printers to print faster than an impact printer but on plain recycled paper. And, unlike thermal printing, ink jet print won't fade."

Rollins expects a 5% to 10% redemption rate for the coupons. This result is better than the 1% to 2% response typically generated by newspaper ads and direct mail campaigns.