About Those Receipts!
The folks at Software Advice, think paper receipts represent a wasteful vestige of the last millennium. There is no reason – legal or otherwise – why consumers or retailers need paper receipts. Electronic receipts are completely valid and they are far more efficient.
Most recently, I asked you to take a short poll on this subject, in my post, “Please-NO More Receipts!” Here are the results of that poll.
Out of 226 votes, 202 people or 89% said they support getting rid of paper receipts. Of the remaining votes, 15 people voted no, seven voted undecided and two people said they don’t care.
Getting everyone to change their ways and embrace technology isn’t easy. In fact, it’s near impossible to enact quickly.
Almost all consumers and retailers, have a relationship with credit card companies – Visa, Mastercard, American Express and the banks that issue the cards. These intermediaries have a tremendous opportunity to drive the evolution to electronic receipts, and make money facilitating the benefits, of electronic change. The control these companies hold is incredible.
For me, I certainly don’t need a paper receipt when I buy a donut , or a coffee, or a taco, for that matter. It’s not like I would return any of these items. There is no desire to return a taco, unless, there was hair in it. In fact, most of us receive at least, 6-10 receipts on any given day. Many of which, are for only one item, and they get thrown away.
It seems clear, for the most part, that the main problem here is inertia. We are accustomed to paper receipts; some people really want them. It is, in large part, a generational thing. The desire for a tangible, paper receipt is probably more common amongst older consumers. We have always been accustomed to getting a receipts for everything. But, the receipts that come from many automated machines, are coated with BPA, that is why they are NOT recyclable.
So, what we really need is a strong incentive to move to electronic receipts. We need incentives – primarily monetary – that motivate consumers and retailers to push toward the vision of paperless retail purchases. Many of us, already pay our bills electronically, and with that there is an option, to print that receipt or not.
Moreover, the production of paper receipts, does do some real damage to our environment. Here are some stunning facts, that I found at AllEtronic, an interesting business that is working to move receipts to digital format. You can create an account there, quickly and easily.
We shouldn’t expect to see expect to see a switch to electronic receipts overnight, perhaps not even in the next five years. However, with enough incentive, innovative companies will make this happen over the next twenty years. Of course, we would like to see it happen sooner than later.
