Paperless Receipts Grow in Popularity

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March 24, 2011

As many retailers prepare to accept mobile payment for merchandise and services, many are paving the way by offering customers paperless receipt options.

Whole Foods, Apple, Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters, Nordstrom, Best Buy and Container Store are some of the cutting edge retailers offering paperless receipts via email instead of printed ones, according to a Boston Herald report.

“It’s all about finding ways to be more environmentally friendly and making it more convenient for shoppers,” said Liz Burkhhart, a Whole Foods spokeswoman, noting that the grocer is piloting the programs in the mid-Atlantic region.

Apple was a clear pioneer of paperless receipts when it began offering them in 2005, but other retailers have not followed suit until recently.

“It’s the next big thing in retail,” said Richard Mader, executive director of the Association for Retail Technology Standards, a division of the National Retail Federation. “In five years, up to 60 percent of retailers will go paperless.”

More retailers are interested in paperless receipts today because many of them are preparing to install cell-phone payment systems, Mader noted. “It’s coming and consumers won’t want to go cardless, but get back a paper receipt,” he said.

All of Nordstrom stores began offering paperless receipt option this month, according to Colin Johnson. “Customers told us that a digital receipt would be an additional convenience to the transaction,” he said. “Shoppers are using mobile devices much more and we’re trying to evolve with them. This is just one way to improve service and better reflect the store experience that customers expect.”

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