The idea of an e-receipt seems to be a good one on the surface – paper is reduced for the merchant, the customer has access to the receipt from anywhere he or she can access e-mail and the simplifies the payment reconciliation process, but the e-receipts don’t fully deliver on the promise, said G.C. Dinesh, vice president, Proximiant, during a break at the Loyalty 360 Engagement and Experience Expo.
“Most of those e-mailed receipts never get opened,” Dinesh said, citing the increasing crush of e-mails that people receive as a reason the e-mail receipts remain untouched.
As customers become increasingly mobile, using mobile phones as payment devices, the idea of “touch and go” digital receipts is picking up popularity, with Proximiant’s solution surpassing 100,000 users in September, on the way to a projected 250,000 users by the end of the year.
Dinesh attributes the growth to more merchants across a variety of industries joining the program. Proximiant is currently negotiating with several large retailers, and has some smaller deals closer to being finalized, the company said.
The digital receipts enable NFC-enabled smartphone users to receive their receipts by tapping their device on a Proximiant-enabled POS terminal (found in participating stores). The solution integrates with most of today’s POS systems.
Proximiant can transmit digital receipts to non-NFC smartphones by capturing the QR code displayed on Proximiant’s device at checkout.
Dinesh added that the company is technology agnostic, and has no prediction for the future success of NFC vs. QR technology.
After the transaction, shoppers can use the app (available for both iOS and Android) to search through receipts by item keyword, store name, date purchased, or other criteria without providing personal information. This enables a customer to quickly find a receipt that might be needed for refunds, exchanges or other purposes. Paper receipts often get lost and don’t offer the same search capabilities.
“This continues to engage the customer after the transaction,” Dinesh said, adding that other engagements end at the completion of the sale. The merchant can include offers on the digital receipts, much like future discounts and other offers sometimes found on paper receipts.
The difference is that the offers through the Proximiant solution will be personalized based on a consumer’s transactions and history, rather than the generic offers on many paper register receipts, according to Dinesh.
For example, someone buying hiking boots might receive an offer for a discount on other camping equipment.
The digital receipts can also include additional messages (e.g., future sales or targeted promotions), Dinesh added.