Where once you had to physically visit a store or call a salesperson in order to purchase anything, now you can seemingly buy everything with just a few taps on a smartphone screen. This massive increase in the online purchasing market has resulted in a proliferation of new manufacturing and retail businesses. It’s no secret that this trend has been a boon to the retail giants, but it’s also proving to be very lucrative for manufacturers of thermal printers.
Why thermal printers?
While thermal printers are applicable for a wide variety of jobs, they have particular strengths that make them well-suited to the retail and manufacturing industries. Notably, they are inexpensive to purchase and maintain, making them an attractive option for a high-capacity production environment such as manufacturing. Additionally, thermal printers are able to produce mass quantities of high-quality images quickly, which means that businesses can speed up production times and get their products shipped to customers more quickly.
The one area where thermal printed images tend to not stack up against their traditional counterparts is when color is used, and this typically isn’t a problem for printing barcodes and labels. Also, thermal printed images work especially well for short-lived applications such as receipts and shipping labels since they don’t do well with extended exposure to direct sunlight.
Retail and manufacturing profit margins are notoriously razor thin, and these companies are looking for any way they can get an edge. With the ability to save money on the purchase and upkeep of the printer hardware itself, and increase revenue by speeding up productivity, it’s easy to see why thermal printers are taking the retail and manufacturing industries by storm.
What’s next for the market?
Forecasts have shown that the growth of the thermal printer industry shows no signs of slowing down in the near future. Up until this point, the North American market has been the largest consumer of thermal printers by a significant margin, but that is expected to change in the coming years as many countries in the Asia Pacific region continue to experience rapid economic growth and expand their manufacturing and retail sectors.
Another growing industry that is increasingly taking advantage of thermal printing is healthcare. Hospitals and other healthcare facilities have to constantly deal with replacing and maintaining expensive equipment, and they are discovering that inexpensive thermal printers are one solution for offsetting these costs.
How can my business benefit from thermal printers?
If the myriad benefits of thermal printers will help your business, consider partnering with a managed print services company that will take the hassle out of ongoing repairs and supply refills.
