Star’s strength in mobile printing in particular will enhance ScanSource’s ability to provide total POS and retail solutions to their reseller partners.
Brenda McCurry, vice president of merchandising for ScanSource POS and Barcode
ScanSource POS and Barcode, the unit of ScanSource focused on automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) and point-of-sale (POS) solutions and services, has announced a new agreement with Star Micronics. The agreement covers Star’s entire product line, which will be available to ScanSource partners in both the United States and Canada.
“Star provides retail products that fit into POS systems, like receipt printers and cash drawers — anything that goes into a POS solution,” said Brenda McCurry, vice president of merchandising for ScanSource POS and Barcode. “Today, their big push is really around mPOS (mobile point of sale). With the rise of tablets and smartphones, everything today tends to be around creating a better mobile experience for the retailer and the shopper.”
Star makes products for all parts of the market.
“From high end to mid-range and low end, they cover it all,” McCurry said. “They play in all verticals – retail, hospitality, quick service – anywhere you need a receipt.”
McCurry said that Star is a significant player because they are exceptionally strong in the mobile space.
“They have led the way in mobile with both their wired and wireless receipt printers,” she said. “They developed unique ones to work with Android, Apple and Microsoft mobile devices. As the market started going mobile, they also developed web-based software tools to make things a lot easier.” Most recently, Star announced AllReceipts, their new digital receipt management solution.
Star also has significant relationships with ISVs that specialize in mobile development, something the distributor will be able to leverage in the mPOS market and help connect its resellers to a broad ecosystem of ISVs and developers.
While ScanSource worked with Star years ago, they have not done so recently. Star does have an established distribution network in North America, and ScanSource has been added to enhance that.
“They realize that Scansource is a leader in the retail space, that has been in the POS market for 20 plus years,” McCurry said. “We have deep relationships with our partners. We also have a strong logistical organization and value added sales and support team.”
From ScanSource’s perspective, Star’s emphasis on mPOS was the key to the deal.
“The timing had to be right for both of us,” McCurry said. “We are always looking for best of breed opportunities, and with Star’s focus on growing the mPOS business, it made sense to add them at this time, with the market seeing both strong new growth opportunities as well as opportunities for refresh. We also have a big play on the payment side, so adding their printing capabilities makes it easier for us to offer a total one stop shop solution to our partners.
“This is an exciting new relationship, and it gives us an opportunity to expand our solutions for our North American partners,” McCurry concluded.
