Retailers Latch On To Potential Of Mobile Print

Zebra Technologies believes that mobile printing applications are set to become more versatile and more productive with the launch of its expanded label range.

Zebra Technologies believes that mobile printing applications are set to become more versatile and more productive with the launch of its expanded label range.

Zebra said it now has over 30 stocked items for its range of QL and Cameo mobile printers, made up of four direct thermal materials.

They include a receipt paper, for applications such as escorted shopping, mobile point of sale and queue busting, a paper tag for retail shelf-edge or price tags and a paper label with permanent adhesive for reduced price and shelf-edge labelling in retail environments.

The latter could also be used for goods-in, put-away and shipping labelling in the warehouse.

There is also a new synthetic label for applications requiring extra tear resistance and durability, such as shelf-edge labelling.

Matthew Hayes, supplies product manager at Zebra, explained: "A growing number of retailers are latching on to the advantages of using mobile wireless printing to provide significant benefits in cutting costs and improving customer service.

The mobile printing market, being predominantly direct thermal, requires a different range of solutions to other printers.

Now, with just four materials, we believe Zebra has over 90 per cent of all current mobile printer applications covered." With the rapid growth in demand for label printing on the move, Zebra has added three more direct thermal materials to its range in order to open up new applications it said.

The company's new blockout label material enables retailers to over-label existing information, such as price, with a black adhesive, blocking out the previous product information underneath.

Its synthetic labels have a greater resistance to wear and tear than standard paper shelf-edge labels it is claimed.

That new material is ideal for labelling electronic shelf edges (ESL) for those retailers moving towards the use of liquid crystal displays in place of the traditional paper shelf edge label.

It is flexible enough to be printed on both mobile and desktop printers.

A new coloured direct thermal label material allows retailers to print variable data in red.

This eliminates the need for retailers to handwrite labels or use pre-printed colour labels or expensive colour printers, as one label material can be used for all in-store mark-downs said Zebra.

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