The move towards paperless receipts will open up a new marketing opportunity for the UK’s retail sector, by enabling shops to build a highly detailed picture of customer purchases – and then email them relevant offers.
One such scheme, Paperless Receipts, is launching later this month. Initially, 75 shops in the West End of London will be part of the programme, although big retailers including DFS are in the process of joining up.
Customers hand over a plastic card – often a retailer’s loyalty card – or their smartphone, which is swiped at the till. They can then go on a website to see details of their purchase.
Those details will be stored in the cloud, with the retailer keeps a similar record. In theory, that should remove the possibility of any disputes about the date of a purchase, should a customer subsequently want a refund.
“We already read books on tablet computers or phones,” said Andrew Carroll, of Paperless Receipts. “So it is a natural progression that receipts will be outdated, and then phased out.”
A second scheme, launched by yReceipts, has signed up 500 shops. Instead of saving receipts on a website, it sends out emails instead.
When customers approach the till, they are asked whether they would like a traditional receipt or if they would like it sent to them by email. The company believes that retailers themselves will prefer emails, as it is easier to push marketing opportunities to customers.
And Alex Stegmann of yReceipts said: “The retailer needs your opt-in, in order to be allowed to send you marketing material, so the email address will never be collected without your specific opt-in.”
