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In the not too distant past, some brick and mortar stores started asking not just if you wanted you receipt with you or in the bag, but also if you instead wanted it sent to you via email. This can be good, or bad. Which side are you on?
The Case For Having your receipt emailed to you: The less paper and other materials I need to strip away from my purchases the better. Between the tag, extra buttons, any sizing stickers, and other plastic dohickeys, the deconstruction process of your new shirt can be as awkward as your first trip from first to second base. (Stupid. Damn. Hooks.) The last thing I want is to file a mile long paper receipt. And by the way, a note to retailers: If I buy a just single pair of socks, I’d rather not walk out of your store hauling something that could double for the Magna Carta.
The Case Against Email Receipts: They ask to email you your receipt because they want you on their mailing list. That, and as little as it costs to print out a receipt, that’s still paper and ink the retailer doesn’t have to buy. So don’t think they’re doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. Most of our in-boxes are littered with order confirmations, shipping notifications, and receipts from online purchases. Paper receipts from brick and mortar stores are oddly nostalgic. You buy the thing, and here’s your ticket that shows you own it. Besides, not all of us have smart phones that we can easily call up our e-receipt on (does that even count?) so that requires us to print out the thing if we need to return something. And that’s a real quick way to blow through expensive toner.
Have you noticed this change? Did you opt for the email receipt the first time around? And if you did, have you gone back to the old fashioned paper and ink receipt? Leave your vote in the comments below.
easier to sort emails than paper receipts….also if you don’t want on the mailing list just click unsubscribe
so email it is
I would love if every store emailed my receipt. With Gmail I just set up a filter so that any emails from retail stores go into a specific folder so it doesn’t clog up my inbox. The less paper in my life, the better; not to mention being better for the environment.
My house got robbed over Thanksgiving break– they stole all my of my hard files but didn’t get my backup hard drive in my safe. Digital receipt are extremely necessary and beneficial for proving ownership! Everything that I’ve purchased online and/or had an emailed receipt for has been so much easier to handle with the insurance company. Definitely would go with the emailed receipt– and a lot of times, they offer me both. Just do both.
That’s SUCH a good idea. How come I never think of this sort of thing?
I don’t do nearly enough in-person shopping to develop an opinion on this, but I feel like if you’re ever in a situation where you need to go back and actually use the receipt for something (like, say, getting money from an insurance company after you get robbed) digital receipts are just objectively a lot easier to manage. If you’re just gonna throw away (delete) the receipt anyway, go with paper.
I’ve never had this offered. Can you do returns with e-mail receipts?
I’ve never been offered an email receipt for an in-store purchase, but I would gladly take one. One less thing to worry about and much easier to find than a paper one, especially if it’s one I might need a few weeks or months down the road. On the other hand, I imagine stores are reluctant to do this for security reasons. A paper receipt allows you to prove the things in your bag belong to you if need be, whereas there would be a lot more confusion (and room for crooks to maneuver) without them.
You’re at the grocery store. The lines are long. You know what’s making them longer? Everyone having the inept store clerk type in their needlessly long and complicated e-mail address and then checking their phone to see if they got it. That’s the sort of thing that holds me back on this idea.
I’ve gotten that type of receipt at Apple before and it was fine. So I guess in some applications, it makes sense. Can it be done? Sure. But not without the proper infrastructure.
And the “better for the environment” talk isn’t necessarily true or practical. But that’s another debate for another day.
I guess Joe’s struggling for new “style debate” topics, huh?
I’ve got to agree. I think the most stylish is gracious either way and is concerned with the purchase not the receipt. A (very) rare “wtf?” post.
Not really, I found it interesting that brick and mortar stores are attempting to get all fancy pants digital, and I go back and forth on it myself. But next time, I’ll just go have a beer instead of sitting in front of the computer.
I am curious how digital paperless receipts are not better for the environment? If everyone did them that is certainly a lot less paper. Obviously they would then need to be printed on a large sheet of paper for a return, but I’m still inclined to say less paper would be wasted…
Well that’s always a good choice!
Great article, we are working on this problem at OneReceipt, www.onereceipt.com. It’s a place to store all of your paper and e-receipts. We give our users their own @onereceipt email address for brick-and-mortar shopping, no spam worries.It’s dapper to be organized and mindful of your spending. Peace.
Always. Too early for one now sadly…
Illegitimi non carborundum Joe. Don’t let the bastards gring you down.
woops. That sgould be grind, but I wouldn’t let them gring you down either.
While I do prefer emailed receipts as a much more elegant solution, I hate having to spell out my e-mail address (not because I have an embarrassing e-mail address, just because it takes too much time).
The first time I encountered e-mail receipts was at the Apple store in 2007 when I bought the original iPhone. They swiped my credit card, matched my card number to my iTunes account which gave them my e-mail address, asked if it was correct and that was that. Elegant.
Heh, thanks Jackson. Much appreciated.
Completely agree.
E-mail for me but I still like paper receipts, too. I actually just experienced this for the first time at Sears during Black Saturday. I went to exchange an item and gave them my e-mail during the checkout thinking that they were just going to put me on a mailing list. A bit later the e-mail notification beeped on my phone and there it was : my e-receipt. Granted not everyone has a smartphone but I think having the option is great.
For those who travel & have to expense back to their employer or the IRS, digital receipts are a god send. As I sit in my hotel room writing this, I have a stack of paper receipts to my right, which all need to be cataloged, scanned, etc. If these were purely digital, the job would take half the time.
Went to Old Navy on Black Friday… I begged my wife to apply for a credit card, while I gave them my longest email address I had. I thought it was payback for all the times they’ve slowed my checkouts down by trying to get me on their email list…