NEW! Printing labels for drink orders

[gcoop5466]

What is the best way to print order tickets using labels?  I'm setting up Square in a small coffee cafe at my church and would like to print drink orders tickets on a label to stick to the cups.  I see I can use the Star printer with Max stick paper... but it seems very expensive.  Any suggestions?

[Helen]

@mugz I'm very sorry about this and the trouble it might causing as you set up your new coffee shop (congratulations by the way!).

If we do support this feature in future we'll update this thread. Click Subscribe at the top of this email you'll be notified by email any time this page is updated. 

[aromacoffeeroas]

Has there been any update on this feature?

[omascoffeeshop]

Not that I have heard of.............still hoping square will see the need for it to help their customers!~

[Donniemc]

One workaround I have used is with a kitchen ticket printer..haven't tried it with just the register..but here goes.

1. Enable open tickets.

2. As each drink is ordered hit save and put name on it like...Jan..

3. Ring in next order...hit save..tap Jan...save..

4. When done..just hit the tickets button and cash out the order as normal.

5.  You can put a note on each one if you want individual names..or you can save each ticket with a name and the merge the tickets and cash it out.

It gives you individual order tickets...another neat option we did was put a 0$ item called to go order in..each call in order the employee hits that button and Bam..instant you know that ticket is to go.

Hope this helps.

[FormosaBTHouse]

Hi Donniemc,

Thank you so much for posting the instructions on how to print labels using a kitchen ticket printer! I'm new here and I am opening a teahouse soon. As many others here, I too will need label printing capabilities for cups. Unfortunately, I just got off the phone with Square and they advised me that they still don't support this type of label printing. I will more likely be purchasing a Square system simply because of their rates and the no-contract hassle. Would you be able to tell me what kind of kitchen ticket printer you used to set up your system? Also, can you tell me what type of labels you are using?

If you wish to respond to me via a direct message, please do so but responding here is fine as well and perhaps even better so that others that are interested can get the same information. Once more, thank you so much! 

[TremontCoffee]

Does anyone have any experience using "Fresh KDS" as an alternative solution to this issue? It appears to be a square marketplace app.
It's a tablet display instead of using a printed sticker on the cups.  Tracks the through-put of drinks as well.

We're pretty seriously concidering it. Just looking for feedback.

[EJ_]

Hi @TremontCoffee

I know there was a thread about Fresh KDS setup with @TopJimmy62 and @ryanwanner

They might have some insights around this that could be helpful for you. 

A few others have some experience with it as well, and from what I've heard, it's a pretty solid solution for restaurants that need kitchen displays. 

[ryanwanner]

Fresh KDS would possibly work in place of sticker tickets, but the KDS system works just like a printer. The entire order is on one ticket. 

What I do for multi-drink orders in my coffee shop is utilize a Sharpie. The drink gets written on the cup and I cross it off the ticket once it’s made. Pretty low tech but it works... at least it does until your barista drops the marker into a full steaming pitcher... 😕

As for KDS, I agree that development on the product is at a standstill. But, with an el-cheapo android tablet with direct line of sight to the router and $10/month, it has saved me from a little bit of trouble. Just make sure you clear the daily tickets at the end of the day!

[TremontCoffee]

@ryanwanner we've upgraded to the 20.00 version of KDS Fresh.. the intire order is put on the screen including all modifiers. We are able tap on indiviual parts of the whole order to show just that one of drinks or food item the order hasbeen completed. It will "grey out and put a line through it. 

I honestly don't know how we would make it though the day without now.  KDS Fresh has become a critcal part of our business.

[aromacoffeeroas]

Has there been any update on using a dymo lable printer for drink orders?

[BradleyRefresh]

We are using FreshKDS. The application development for it is basically abandoned. It does work, there are alot of people that complain about missing tickets. It's not as effective as having a sticker per each drink. I've noticed it works best if you clear out the old tickets each night. I've had my fair share of problems with it.

[harriscoffee]

We have an abbreviation system for writing on the cups. Is there a reason you need a sticker? Is it because it's a drive through? 

[BradleyRefresh]

Not because it's a drive through, but because it would be a duplicate task to have to write the order down after you key it into the system. If a label printed out instead, it would save the cashier from that task. My friend has a very similar business that uses a POS that prints labels and it's a much better system than ours.

[TremontCoffee]

Update: We installed KDS Fresh app. Purchased pad and swivel pad holder .. was super excited to get started... And then found out that KDS F would only send about 1 out of 5 orders to the screen. When it works it’s fantastic. But like I said, it barely works. Canceled subscription.  writing on cups until a better solution shows up. I’m still **bleep**ed square doesn’t offer a way to print single drink stickers for cups. And it will probably force us to eventually leave. 

[snowteausa]

Need Printing sticky label on cups. Just open up a tea shop and running with Square Register then found out no feather of sticky label on cups. Come on Square, this is not very hard to do, don’t understand why you guys can not do it. Square will lose some amount of customers for sure, I will switch to Revel soon.

[jdbgreenville]

WARNING:  Whatever you do DO NOT switch to Revel.  We used them for a year, and yes they have a nice sticky label printer for drink orders, but the negatives FAR outweigh ANY benefit.  First off, their Merchant Services Charges are ridiculous, a WHOLE lot more (6-7% on average) than Square.  Plus you pay a per POS monthly fee basically for nothing.  Their Customer Service and Technical Support is AWFUL.  You are placed on hold for an hour before "Debbie" or "David" trys and helps you from India.  It took MONTHS to get our card readers to accept cards with chips.  I could go on and on but trust me on this one.  You do NOT want to use Revel.  Use any other POS System like Clover,  Toast, Shopkeep. etc.  ANYONE but Revel.  For our two coffee shops the benefits of Square are worth it to us to wait for them to have a sticky label printer.  Now hurry up Square!

[Rogerlin]

I am about to purchase another Square for my 2nd tea shop but found out Square doesn't support label printer from 2016 until now. What a shame! I think Square never try to solve this problem, I need to look for other POS that support that. Any suggestion?

[EJ_]

Hey @Rogerlin

Unfortunately there haven't been any new developments around this that I can share. 

A few of your fellow sellers have posted their workarounds that they currently use, so try and see if one of them works for what you're trying to do if you get a chance to test some out. 

Thank you for being patient with us thus far, and I'll keep advocating for this to our Product Team. Hopefully we can get something rolled out to help with this soon. 

[TeaWayPlus]

@snowteausa hi. Did you find out any idea to print out the sticker label on cup? Because I also still looking for. So if you have. Please let me know. Thank you.

[omascoffeeshop]

No I sure haven't, square still hasn't done anything for this 😞

[FormosaBTHouse]

Hi, I still haven't found a way to hook up a label printer to Square for this purpose. Our business is now is in operation and at times it gets very hectic and not having this option only slows the process and can create confusion.

I am starting to feel that Square doesn't really care about addressing our needs for our industry since all I have seen here from them is a simple "we are looking into it" response. How is it that all other POS have this capability but not Square. I love the system but am not happy that they don't care about fixing this minor glitch. If you or anyone else here finds a solution to this issue, please let me know also. I am very interested in trying anything.