yReceipts is a company which says it helps businesses to introduce paperless receipts throughout their retail stores. When customers make a purchase, they can thus ask for their receipt in electronic form – with a PDF version being sent to a dedicated mailbox.
The benefits, so yReceipts says, are numerous: people find it easier to store and access financial documents online rather than having to keep countless receipts in their bags, drawers or pockets; carbon footprints are reduced significantly; and businesses can use the emailed receipts to distribute special offers.
Elsewhere, similar initiatives are multiplying in number at a rapid pace. We have, for example, seen several airlines using iPads in favour of traditional passenger lists. Brands such as BMW and Nordstrom, meanwhile, have been employing Apple devices to streamline the in-store experience. And, in the Netherlands, the Dutch senate now prefers iPads to paper for a number of administrative tasks.
We might wonder, then, in just how many more commercial contexts we’ll see technology being employed during the 10s in order to improve eco-credentials and save both time and money. Will wallets full of receipts soon seem a rather dated curiosity?
The main point of something like yReceipts from a business point of view is surely not the minuscule saving made on paper, but the ability to capture all of that POS data and analyse it in a low-cost, outsourced way without even having to offer loyalty points, no? V clever…
I agree with Nik. Offering to email a customer their receipt is not just another step to a paperless world, it a smart way of obtaining the most important piece of information you need from them…. their email address.
In an increasingly Multi-channel world, an email address links a customer’s online purchase history, marketing preferences, etc.
By gradually educating the customer that providing their email means they get: quicker service (e.g. via yReceipts), potential savings (e.g loyalty discounts) and other possibilities…. helps them and the retailer.