Receipts can come in special shapes and sizes, and, as mobile commerce increases, this is no longer restrained to the size and type of the paper. Now many retailers have the option of providing printed or emailed receipts–some offer both, while others pick one option. Are there advantages to imparting one alternative over the other?
Here is a brief breakdown of the benefits for each option:
Emailed Receipts:
Convenient
Businesses can easily email receipts with the push of a button, eliminating the need to connect printers or replace paper
Customer Relationship Management
Because businesses need to collect a patron’s email address in order to email a receipt, they’ll also be able to collect data on their customers over time
Green
Emailed receipts save paper, plain and simple. Your business will save money on not only printer paper but ink cartridges as well.
Disadvantages:
- Both you and the person receiving the email must have an email address and access to a computer or device that can access the Internet
- If you don’t know the email address of the other person then you can’t send them a message
- Some people change their email addresses fairly often as they switch ISPs or jobs
- Spam is a big problem, up to two-thirds of mails sent are spam
- You may have to wait a long time to get a reply.
- Email attachments can contain viruses
Printed Receipts:
Fast
Receipts can be printed quickly, whereas taking a customer’s email to send the receipt may take a little more time
Reassuring
Some customers prefer a hard copy receipt (whether for tax purposes or expensing a business lunch)
Little room for error
Once the receipt has been printed, it can be immediately handed to the customer. Conversely, email addresses can be entered incorrectly, causing emailed receipts to get lost along the way.
There are apparent advantages and negative aspects to both options. which one should business choose? The fantastic answer is: both. Businesses must choose a POS machine that lets in them full flexibility to pick out whichever receipt method they–or their customers–prefer. Moreover printed receipts are better than email receipts.
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