“Do you need a paper receipt, or is e-mail fine?”
Every time I go to the Apple Store to buy something (an event my wife would say is much too common), I am given the option to have my receipt e-mailed to me. In almost every case, I choose the e-mail option.
Given the fact that I run this website, I am probably a bit of an edge case. I started wondering what kind of adoption paperless receipts are having.
The Boston Herald had an article on the topic:
“It’s the next big thing in retail,” said Richard Mader, executive director of the Association for Retail Technology Standards, a division of the National Retail Federation. “In five years, up to 60 percent of retailers will go paperless.” Colin Johnson, a Nordstrom spokesman, said all of its stores started offering the paperless option this month.
Of course, retailers aren’t doing it just to make things convenient for us. According to this New York Times article, some retailers (I’m looking at you, Gap) are using those e-mail addresses for marketing purposes. The Times had an interesting quote from Patagonia:
That marketing potential is a drawback to some customers, said Robert Cohen, vice president of retail at Patagonia, which began offering e-receipts nine months ago. “People are very protective of their e-mail in-box,” he said, so only about one-third of Patagonia’s customers choose an electronic receipt.
To be honest, I am surprised it is as high as one-third.
How about you? Do you take the paperless receipt option, or do you like the perceived safety of walking out of the store with a piece of paper? I’m curious what others do.
(Photo by ben_onthemove)