Best Setup for Mall Kiosk

[damon1212]

Hi all, sorry if this has been covered before.   Feel free to direct me to a previous thread if this is a redundant topic.

I will be opening a mall kiosk in October.  We have been using Square for Farmers Markets for a couple months, but now I will need to print receipts and have a true cash drawer.

I could easily throw money at the problem (get the Square Register, Cash Drawer and Printer) but that seems like the expensive and simple solution. 

I see that the register is compatible with other printers and registers.   So I guess I have three questions:
1) Is there a different option than the square register (can third party registers connect to square software)
2) Is it better to have USB register or printer connected register?

3) Suggestions on what to look for in both additional purchases from the register.

Thanks in advance community!
Damon1212

[nika]

Hi @damon1212! Congrats on opening your kiosk!

We have quite a few compatible printers and cash drawers depending on which type of device you're using. But let's get to your specific questions you wrote in with:

1.) Third party stands/registers/etc. won't be compatible with our Square software. You'll want to use a compatible device!

2.) When it comes to a USB printer versus an Ethernet printer, one isn't necessarily better than the other. But for your type of set up, I'd probably suggest using a USB connection if you're not going to have your own router for your kiosk. But that depends on how your setup will be.

3.) Maybe one of our Super Sellers can shed some light on which printers and/or cash drawers they've have used and can suggest to you! @pessosices @ryanwanner @VanKalkerFarms @RHatch - any suggestions for @damon1212?

[ryanwanner]

Hello @damon1212 !

Congrats on your new mall kiosk!

To follow up with with @nika was saying, for you I recommend a usb printer plugged into a Square Stand or the Register. The cash drawer can either be printer driven (it plugs into the back of the printer) or usb for your setup without causing any major issues.

Now, if you already have some type of stand for your tablet and don't want to take on the cost of the Stand, I would recommend sticking with an Ethernet printer that plugs into your wireless router that feeds your tablet. When I started with Square, the Stand wasn't around yet (yup, I'm an old fart around here... 😉 and I used the Heckler stand and network printers. I didn't change the printers around when I upgraded to the stand, and for the most part I have had zero issues with my printers.

That said, if you're looking to save a little money for startup costs, you may want to consider a video screen printer like the FreshKDS product. Sure, you'll lose the ability to create a printed receipt, but you can add a "printer" for the cost of a $70 android tablet from walmart. You'll still need a cash drawer, but since the physical printer usually costs upwards of $250.....

[pessosices]

You don't necessarily need the Square Register - and iPad with the Square Stand works just fine.

But if you're worried about security and theft in a kiosk, the all in one Register might be the best bet - can't remove the iPad or anything.

I would definitely agree and say that USB or Bluetooth is the way to go for this kind of public setup to make sure that it works every time and you don't have to tap into an ethernet connection to the network, which you might not even be able to do.

Honestly, you probably can't go wrong with anything from the Supported Hardware Page: https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/6334-hardware-compatibility-by-device

We use Star Micronics Printers, and the APG Cash Drawers - no major issues there!