Receipts are slips of paper with transaction data thermally printed on them. A quick search of our wallet or purse will produce several bills — forgotten and discarded. But receipts are potent tools in availing benefits for future purchases and furthering customer relationships. Yet, in today’s digital age, storing and maintaining receipts can be a time-consuming and tedious task.
With e-receipts, however, the benefits of contactless payments are maximized. Neither the retailing merchant nor the customer must hunt for a receipt for a particular payment. Stored within digital reach, e-receipts are dynamic acknowledgments of purchase. It’s allow merchants and consumers to make the most out of the purchase experience.
As the march toward digitization is going strong, the Reserve Bank of India, in a discussion paper released in July, recommended banks and financial institutions use paperless alternatives, like the e-receipt, to mitigate the threats of climate change.
As the retail and physical landscape continues to transform and innovate, read further to discover the benefits of e-receipts and how you can take your business to the next level!
What is a receipt?
A receipt is a physical record of a purchase. It acknowledges the sale of a good from a merchant to a customer in exchange for a specific monetary amount.
The cashier at a merchant store manually generates a bill or receipt once payment has been successful. By convention, two copies are printing—a merchant and a consumer copy.
For this, a merchant must possess the appropriate bill printing machine that is often integrated with the point of sale (PoS) terminal.
Quite often, due to the misplacement of receipts, customers lose out on offers, discounts, and other benefits with the purchase printed on the receipt. Physical receipts don’t just occupy space; they are prone to wear and tear and fade when exposed to sunlight, thus easily damaged and unnecessary paper waste.
What is an e-receipt?
An e-receipt or electronic receipt is similar to the SMS notifications acknowledging the transactions that have taken place over a card or UPI.
E-receipts are generated at checkout using the point of sale on the Innoviti (PoS) terminal. Cashiers should ask for the customer’s digital or physical preference and prompt them to enter their mobile number or email address.
Benefits of e-receipts:
Here are a few of the many benefits of e-receipts:
1) Paperless and Green: Recent findings suggest that many customers prefer paperless and environmentally friendly transactions. With increasing threats to the supply chain of paper and financial stability, e-receipts are a sure-shot way for businesses to green-proof themselves.
2) Truly Contactless: Today, you can tap your card or scan a QR code and pay. However, we continue to receive payment slips for our payments. With e-receipts, merchants can unlock the true potential of cutting-edge contactless payments.
3) Precise marketing: E-receipts are easily accessible on our devices. This makes it possible to design marketing and promotional campaigns that are tailoring to your customers. It can be easily catch their attention and interest as it hits their devices through emails or instant SMS messages.
4) Manage payment history: E-receipts make it easy to keep track of payments as they reduce dependence on paper receipts. Both merchants and customers can pull relevant receipts to dispute purchases while accommodating return/exchange requests.
5) Economical: A receipt printer uses ink and paper to produce a receipt. These are resources that require the merchant to shell out money regularly. E-receipts cut down these business costs.
6) Improved Customer Experience: With this feature, merchants can reduce purchase time, receive immediate feedback, and drive customer repurchase, improving customer satisfaction.
7) Capture receipts on the go: Printing machines may require an outlet to operate. There are also battery-operating receipt printers available, but the battery life may not last long. With the help of digital platform, you can create a simple receipt on the go. As long as you have a device and an internet connection, you can create and send online receipts easily. Using digital receipts works well if you’re a small merchant who regularly goes to outdoor events. You can sell items at concerts or sports days and not worry about running out of paper when doing receipts.
Additionally, you won’t have to stress keeping your receipts safe during an outdoor event because they will be save on a digital platform. As a outcome, it will also enhance your security so that unauthorized people don’t get access to your receipts. Another advantage of having digital receipts is that some systems allow customers to sign with a digital signature, either with their finger or a stylus, so you won’t need to invest in pens.
8) Quick sharing with your accounts department: When you have paper receipts, sharing the information with your accounts department can be challenging. It takes time to scan the paper to email and then send it to people. Sometimes scanning a hard copy onto a digital platform decreases the visibility of the printed data. Using an online receipt, all the data can be seen clearly, and you can share it with multiple people without making copies. You can access them and send them to your accounts department even when you’re not in the office. Sending online electronic receipt is quick, easy, and secure, so there will be no risk of them getting lost in the mail or stolen.
9) Increased customer satisfaction: Many customers have a preference digitalized receipts because it also helps them organize and keep their receipts safe. Online receipts may help decrease their stress levels regarding tax season. The receipts will send safely to customers’ or clients’ email addresses where they can retrieve and access them easily. Some people are also environmentally conscious and appreciate when corporations minimize their paper use.
10) Improves your revenue: At present that you have a list of customer emails, thanks to your online receipt methods. You’ll be able to upsurge your company’s revenue. Maximum customers will return to your company if you inform them about sales, promotions, or new products you’re offering. The only way for you to let your clients know about your marketing campaign is by using the email addresses your clients have given you. With more consumers or customers visiting your business to buy products or services on promotion, you’ll significantly upsurge your revenue.
ARE ELECTRONIC RECEIPTS SAFE?
Sending online electronic receipts may be a safer alternative to paper ones. Using hardcopy receipts, there is a greater risk of exposing customer information such as signatures. If a receipt gets into the off beam hands, there could be a potential risk of dealing with fraud. You’ll be protect by encryptions or SSL certificates so that receipt can be sent securely from one device to another. Protecting your electronic software is essential to prevent hackers from gaining access to your digital infrastructure. You can also prevent unauthorized people from accessing your saved electronic receipts by locking this part of your system with a robust online password. Only allow accounting clerks or bookkeepers to access this part of your digital infrastructure. So there’s no risk of your receipts falling into the wrong hands.
Conclusion:
With E-receipts, businesses can build meaningful relationships with their customers, improve perceptions of embracing a green alternative. It’s reduce business costs, and use consumer data for targeted campaigns leading to greater profits. Express your requirements to a reasonable payment service provider like Innoviti, and they will direct you on a cost-effective strategy to digitize your receipts and amplify your business.
