Emailing receipts isn’t a new concept but with many companies still using paper-based printing methods when it comes to identifying purchases. With others completely paper-free, we wonder, will we ever feel completely comfortable leaving a store without this little slip?
Lots of people ask why to continue with an archaic process? Cast your mind back to the time you accidentally left that receipt in your jean pocket and now it’s a mushy mess. Or when you see that person in front of you at the till and they are riffling through 3 years of paper to find the one they conveniently don’t have!
Every year UK retailers hand out and estimated 11.2 billion receipts with an estimated cost of £32 million. Chances are a lot of these receipts automatically get printed and they are just thrown in the bin, sometimes straight away as we decide we don’t need one for the coffee we have just purchased. Till receipts are also traditionally printed onto thermal papers coated in bisphenol (BPA) or BPS which make them unable to be recycled. This means there is the impact of this paper reaching landfill and the chemicals leaching into the environment.
There are many options, but the trend now is towards e-receipts and instant alerts. We have seen solutions such a Flux offering online receipt solutions or companies emailing receipts. Some people are tentative of these processes as in some cases as it means giving away personal email addresses or creating an account. But the benefits outweigh this trepidation as an online process is instant, easy for us to store in our smart devices and simple to find if you need them.
With everything else becoming available to us at the click of a button, train tickets, flight tickets and cinema tickets, it almost seems logical that receipts should follow suit. No more sifting through your purse at the end of the year to dispose of.
The incentive also allows people to keep better track of their spending with receipts available on your phone all in one place. Having it on your smart device also mean it can seamlessly link with other applications for easy cross-checking seamlessly. That flat white purchase on a Monday morning is no longer forgotten about!
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