Digital receipts are now crucial to running a successful business. You need receipts to track your expenses and purchases and to manage your finances and for tax purposes. Paper receipts have been around forever, so most people are used to them, and people don’t like change, so you may even resist moving away from them.
With technology constantly evolving, paper receipts are slowly becoming a thing of the past. There are environmental reasons for the move. Paper receipts require millions of trees to be cut down and billions of litres of water to produce. They emit carbon dioxide (CO2), so going digital is good for the environment
Here are some additional reasons why your business should consider eliminating paper receipts.
Decreased costs
Receipts eat into your profits. It costs more money to buy the paper and the ink than having an e-receipt emailed to clients. By having your receipts emailed instead of printed, your business will be saving money.
On a per-unit basis, receipts might not seem like a considerable expense, but over a period of time, they can add up to thousands of dollars.
Increased efficiency
Printing out receipts, changing the printer paper, and even ensuring that the receipt printer is working are all time-consuming. While your customers are waiting for their receipt, a line of customers can start to form.
Beyond that, how often do clients contact you because they’ve lost their receipt and need a copy? Emailing receipts allows customers to archive the receipt in their emails, rather than taking time out of their day to search for a piece of paper they might have lost or filed in the wrong spot. Your team members save time by not having to reprint customers missing receipts.
By using digital receipts, your online system efficiently generates better, more accurate reports. Consider how easy it would be for team members to take photos of their expenses on their smartphone and have their expense report auto-populated, rather than filling it out manually. The system automatically tells you how much you’ve spent so far this year on office supplies without you adding up each receipt.
Shredding receipts also takes up a significant amount of time that could be better spent on other tasks.
Digital receipts are easier to share
If you have a bookkeeper or accountant, it’s easier to email your digital receipts to that person rather than having to store them and then mail them or deliver them yourself. There’s also no risk that the receipt will be damaged, faded, or lost.
Additional marketing opportunities
Although you can include some marketing with a printed receipt–maybe a coupon or a link to your website, digital receipts give multiple marketing opportunities. A digital receipt gives you the chance to share new promotions or individualised product recommendations. This will also enable you to expand your electronic mailing list and accumulate client data, allowing you to follow up and update them.
Final Thoughts
Although everyone is used to paper receipts, there are multiple benefits to switching to digital receipts; these include environmental benefits and time management benefits, which can positively impact your business.
If you have any questions, feel free to Join the conversation…