A few years ago I had visited the Apple store and purchased an iPod and noticed something rather interesting. When I finalized my sale they asked me for my email address and told me I was all set. When I inquired about my receipt, the associate then told me that he had sent a copy to my email address. Oddly I was very impressed by this simple luxury that Apple had offered. One less thing that I would have to worry about, my receipt was already saved and filed away for me.
I had thought Apple was the only company that was utilizing the technology of emailing your receipt but apparently I was wrong. According to the article by Stefanie Clifford "Major retailers, including Whole Foods Market, Nordstrom, Gap Inc. (which owns Old Navy and Banana Republic), Anthropologie, Patagonia, Sears and Kmart, have begun offering electronic versions of receipts." It seems to be that this technology has been catching on and it is taking the retail industry by storm. It is such a simple concept, but provides consumer with a convenient option rather than having to collect and file away receipts from their many purchases.
Paperless receipts could completely eliminate the frustration of filing away receipts. Not only is this new concept helpful to the consumer but it could have a major impact on the environment. If this technology becomes the norm this could be the ultimate "go green" project. Electronic receipts could also significantly reduce the headache that many of us endure looking for our receipts during tax season. Everything could already be previously filed and organized with the click of a button.
Who knows how far this technology will be taken as it begins to catch on. As stated in the article by Stefanie Clifford "Mr. Nordstrom said Nordstrom was also thinking about ways to make its e-receipts more appealing, perhaps by adding a picture of the item to the receipt so a shopper could post it to a Facebook wall." Simple additions such as this could make the shopping experience all that more appealing to the consumer.
I personally believe that within five years we will look back and be astonished by the fact that we ever used paper receipts. The world is always evolving in regards to technology and simple functions such as this will do away with the processes that we have known since we were kids. The convenience that the electronic receipt brings will leave no other option for retail stores than to convert from physical paper receipts to electronically emailed receipts.
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