Every business who directly sells to the customer

1. Buy as many rolls as you can in one go.

Paper is heavy and so delivering paper becomes very expensive. Couriers offer suppliers discounts for volumes which they 'kindly' pass on to customers who buy in bulk. Just look at the 'price per roll' of ten boxes of rolls compared to one box. Makes you think!

2. Buy the optimum roll size.

Check your manual for roll size and make sure that you specify the optimum roll diameter for your printer. Not completely filling your printer's basket leads to more roll changes and more purchasing of unnecessary till rolls.

3. Buy the optimum core size.

Check if the core size of your till roll is essential to the printer operation. If it is not check the internal dimension of the core which should be no more than 12.7mm internal diameter.

In some printers a spindle or driver is inserted into the core to feed the paper forward. In this instance the core size is critical and no savings can be made

In many other devices the roll simply sits in a cradle or basket so the core size is not important to the performance of the printer. However in this instance, large cores means less paper, more changing & purchasing of rolls.

4. Length & Diameter do mater

Check the number of meters in a roll and use the maximum for the diameter. If you are not sure ask your supplier. Also make sure that your supplier sends the rolls with exact dimensions that you specified. A few mm here and there add up over time!

5. No waste

Make sure that there is no spare paper left in the till or device when it indicates that you have to change the till roll. There are often small levers inside printers or screws that you can adjust so that all the paper is used.

This adjustment is usually required if you start using rolls with a different core size. If your device has no way of adjusting it then buy a better fitting roll. Ask your supplier to help you with this.

6. Reduce the size of your logo.

Simply reduce your brand logo size in the header of the receipt or even convert it to text if a logo is unnecessary. After thousands of transactions this will soon add up.

7. Excessive headers and footers.

The Header is the text at the top of the receipt before the transaction data starts where as the footer is the text at the bottom of the receipt after the transaction data ends.

By removing unwanted gaps or text in these locations you can considerably reduce the length of the receipt which over time can save a lot of paper.

8. Margin of error

As with the headers and footers ensure your solution is not using excessive margins at either side of the transaction.

Admittedly this can be tricky to change and is often down to the solution provider or hardware manufacturer to change. However many manufacturers are moving towards 'Eco' solutions which reduces this waste.

9. Go coreless

For hand held portable thermal printers and PDQ rolls, where applicable, select high yield coreless rolls which have up to 40% more paper per roll.

10. Go Eco

Eco rolls are made with the entire tree unlike Grade A paper till rolls and therefore are more environmentally friendly. They are off white in colour due to this process and have some small raised 'bumps' throughout. Eco rolls are also cheaper than Grade A rolls making them more economical too.

If you wish to let your customers know that you are doing all you can to save the environment and you do not mind slightly off white paper, then Eco rolls could be for you. You should purchase one box to evaluate the Eco rolls before ordering in bulk.

Lastly - What not to do.

Cheaper rolls will save me money right?

Low grade paper can cause problems by jamming and by producing 'dust' which over time can damage your printer. Failure to use approved papers can also lead to warranties being invalidated. Cheaper thermal till rolls can often have fewer meters of paper on them too! To summarise, cheap paper rolls leads to costing your business more in the long run.

Go for approved grade A and Eco paper.