Most experts agree that the days of paper receipts are numbered. Whether retailers choose an all-inclusive solution that allows customers to both pay and receive receipts on a mobile device or retailers simply continue sending receipts via e-mail, businesses of all sizes are realizing the many benefits that come with eliminating as much thermal receipt paper as possible.

How It Works

Thanks to cloud service providers, businesses of all sizes now have access to the same state-of-the-art technology used by some of the biggest chain retailers. Businesses have a variety of POS options, many of which can operate on relatively inexpensive tablets and smartphones.

Most cloud-based options provide retailers the tools they need to accept credit card and cash transactions. As a bonus, retailers can opt for a solution that delivers a receipt to a customer’s e-mail inbox as soon as the transaction is complete.

Marketing Help

E-receipts give businesses the perfect opportunity to market to customers. This marketing can be done directly on the receipt, in the form of a coupon that can be used on the customer’s next trip. Some businesses feel this is an opportunity to collect e-mail addresses for the purpose of adding customers to mailing lists, but this behavior could be seen as too aggressive.

Instead, a retailer could use the cloud-based digital receipt as an excuse to include a link. Through this link, customers can opt into your mailing list to receive special offers.

In the future, many experts predict that businesses may be able to go a step further with their marketing efforts using this technology. Through an installed app, businesses will be able to detect when a customer is near one of their locations and deploy a message about any specials that might interest them. An important first step in that direction, however, is moving customers from paper receipts to smartphone-based receipts, ensuring they’ll be in place once the technology is available.