Too Much Proof of Purchase

January 12, 2009

After spending serious quality time with my new shredder and a giant bag of receipts circa 2007, I began to fantasize about a "no receipt" button in the grocery store's self-checkout. It made me wonder if new electronic receipts could do the trick.

Sometimes it's possible to prevent receipts from printing, but one local pharmacy chain gives each customer enough paper to decorate a tree no matter what you do. And sometimes you want to save that one receipt and show it proudly to your accountant come tax time.

A startup called TransactionTree recently popped up,  proposing a service for retailers that allows them to email an electronic copy of a receipt to customers. Essentially you give the sales associate an email address at the end of the transaction. Part of me is intrigued and part of me foresees an inbox that looks like my pre-shredded receipt bag. (And part of me is chuckling at their "NoMo Paper Electronic Receipt Management Website.") TransactionTree isn't alone. An outfit called allEtronic is offering a similar service where consumers enroll for the service through a website.

There have to be more companies working on this, and chain stores that are testing ideas. If you spot a solution that works for businesses--and allows them to comply with paper trail regulations--definitely post a comment. Until we have more options, my cheap shredder will keep humming.

Image: The receipt for one wireless store purchase. Credit: Jelene Morris.

Comments

[Tom in San Jose]

You may be satisfied with "no receipts" at your grocery store but I'm not. You'd be surprised at how many times they charge you for something and then leave it out of the bag. Also, you should take the time to review what they are charging for every item. The favorite trick of many places is to have a low price on the shelf but the computer has a higher price which is applied when scanned at the checkout.

What I would like to see is a price terminal in the Produce Department so I can walk over to it, enter the number on the product tag, and see what the product/price is. Too many groceries have overcrowding on their produce shelves and you can't easily tell what product you are selecting and its cost.

[Alyssa Danigelis]

Tom, you're right--it's definitely worth checking to make sure you're paying for what you think you're paying for. I usually keep my eye on the self-checkout terminal screen--and I'm not afraid to ask about a sale that isn't showing up.

We have a little electronic machine here to do price checks, although it might only be for packaged goods. (You're talking to a New Yorker, so an overcrowded produce aisle is only the beginning...) Have you seen a prototype for a price terminal that can handle produce? Sounds like it should exist.

[Steaming Pile]

I would be happy if the receipt was proportionate to the amount of stuff I just bought. I would give an A to any retailer who limited the length of the receipt tape to three inches plus whatever the actual list of stuff uses. An inch and a half at the top for the company logo, and an inch and a half for some reasonable amount of disclaimer and other information. The worst offender, by far, was the now-defunct Circuit City, who would hand out more than two feet of register tape if I bought so much as a package of AA batteries. Ridiculous. No wonder they've gone belly-up.

[johanna]

The Apple Store always offers to email you your receipt rather than give you a paper copy. It works great! (especially for people with iphones and the like who get instant gratification)

[Susan]

If you buy online, your vendor will always send you a confirming email that lists what you bought, the cost of each item, shipping cost, etc. That is all the "receipt" you need. In addition, when I place an order (I do most of my shopping, other than food and disposable household goods, online), I always copy the entire order and email it to myself in case there is a problem later with the vendor over price, what I bought, non deliver, etc.

[Alyssa Danigelis]

You make a good point Susan. Now, if I could finagle free shipping on everything...

[Susannah]

When online shopping, many stores will display a receipt with instructions to print for your records. Instead of printing, I take a screenshot of the whole thing and save in a special "Receipts" folder in My Documents. No paper involved.

[Steve]

There is a MUCH easier and cleaner way to do this. If you ask retailers and consumers to change the way they shop, most will not do it. A way has to be provided, and can easily be created, that allows both to conduct business the way it is done now but provide electronic receipts.

[Mike]

Well it's been a few months since anyone commented about this article but I just came across it! A few commenters made valid points above about double checking what your purchases with a paper receipt. HOWEVER, you can double check for charging errors WITHOUT a physical receipt as well. Think about it...with the rising popularity of internet on cellular devices you could pull the receipt up on your cell phone and do the same thing.

Also, I've checked into allEtronic a little bit. I prefer their service over Transaction Tree for one main reason: they don't email you the receipts. Instead, your receipts get stored in one place on their website (you can organize them in different folders). I get enough garbage in my cluttered inbox and managing receipts floating around in there would be a nightmare.

[Alyssa]

Mike, you make a good point about allEtronic--I think a service that keeps every inbox free is smarter than what we've got. Thanks for the comment!