Several years back I talked about the trend of not getting a receipt by default at some stores. This still happens to me, largely at coffee shops, but I wanted to mention a place where it actually works out well: the Apple Store.
The truth of the matter is that having a receipt of some sort is a part of my financial workflow. The Wife and I track our purchases in a budget program (Budget) and adding purchases on a daily or weekly basis requires receipts. Some are actual paper receipts and some are electronic, but having an actual person do the input adds a nice check-and-balance to the system versus trusting Quicken, Mint, etc. to the data.
But if I have the option for an electronic receipt… that’s pretty nice. And that’s what Apple does.
The whole system is really about what you would expect from Apple: high tech enough and maybe a little flashy. The Apple Store doesn’t have a cashier station anymore; individuals have handheld devices that allow them to take debit/credit cards and do receipts on demand. But when checking out one has the option of getting an email receipt.
This, I like. It means I’ll still get the proof of purchase from the retailer, and I don’t have to worry about waiting for it to show up on my online banking record… and not a shard of paper is wasted.
It’d be ideal if this were an option everywhere. And just think, marketeers: you’re getting my email address! For free! How can it be bad?
Posted in Consumer Commentary