photo: green wombat
When Green Wombat made a purchase at the San Francisco Apple store the other day, the salesperson asked if I’d prefer to have the receipt emailed to me rather than printed out. Brilliant. Imagine saving untold tons of paper used to print receipts that the vast majority of consumers probably just end up tossing in the trash (along with the paper or plastic bag that a clerk reflexively asked if they wanted). In an age when just about everyone and their cat has an email address, and when many purchases are made with debit or credit cards, paper receipts increasingly are an anachronism in a global warming world. It would be revealing to calculate the environmental impact of ridding the planet of those little scraps of paper – in terms of greenhouse gas emissions eliminated, toxic chemicals avoided and forests preserved. Not to mention the improvement to the corporate bottom line. The reality is that receipts, paper or electronic,
aren’t necessary for most daily purchases – already outlets like Starbucks or Peets will swipe your debit or credit card without printing proof of payment. And for the big buys an email receipt is way easier to find on your hard drive
than a piece of paper stuck in some desk drawer. Apple (AAPL) spokesperson Steve Dowling tells Green Wombat that the e-receipt option has been available in the company’s U.S. stores since late 2005 – when you make a credit card purchase – and is also offered in the U.K. (Though it hasn’t been widely publicized, like other green Apple initiatives until recently.) Acceptance of e-receipts will obviously take some change in consumer behavior. But it’s one of those small but significant moves toward sustainability that Wal-Mart (WMT), Dell (DELL) and other companies that have put themselves on the green path could adopt. Green Wombat is sold: by the time I made it from the Apple store counter to the street, my receipt had appeared on my mobile phone.
Green Wombat 
Great idea! Would love to see it adopted more!
Perhaps we could convince the credit card companies to participate thus making this option automatic for any charged purchase anywhere in the world. The credit card company would be the sender of the receipt so no need for the merchant to collect the email address.
I have a question from a merchants point of view. In regards to customers who lodge a dispute on a credit card transaction. The card issuing company, i.e AMEX contacts the merchant asking PROOF OF PURCHASE. Isn’t a signed receipt the only proof of purchase or are there other valid means to prove the person signed for it? I believe this is the main reason as to why merchants provide a receipt because they also need to capture the signature.
I love the idea until I cannot find my recipt in the pile of sales/advertising emails that come from the RED APPLE.
Good question. I’m not sure of the answer but I often sign my name electronically on a card reader so my receipt doesn’t have my signature. I’m assuming credit card companies are accepting those receipts as proof of purchase.
This sounds like a great idea until the receipt does not show up in your mail box. I had to return the item and could only get a store credit because I did not have the receipt. You would think that I could give them my credit card and they could find the transaction but that did not seem to be an option. Fortunately I knew in time I would purchase more so it was not that big an issue.
Crap, at the rates the card companies charge now, theres no way I can afford to pay them another 1-2% for this convenience (dont think they would charge for this? guess again!) It’s already bad enough that we have to pay Amex and Discover like 5-6% of every purchase, and those wonderful cash back/savings plans consumers like so much also are additional fees the (yep, you guessed it) merchant has to pay for. The card companies arent giving the consumers these bonuses, we (merchants) are paying for them and we really don’t have a choice….
You make it cheaper for me as a small business to do e-reciepts, and not charge me back every time someone complains (i.e. take the loss like people think youre supposed to, not require me to jump through 7 hoops to prove it was a valid charge) because I dont have a signed receipt, and I’d do it. Otherwise, screw that idea.
David: Re signatures… you still have to sign electronically, and that signature is stored in a database with the receipt as far as I am aware.
it would be interesting to know how to return these items. Ideally, apple would just check their internal records. It would defeat the purpose if consumer has to print his original receipt out to show proof of purchase
David: Re signatures… you still have to sign electronically, and that signature is stored in a database with the receipt as far as I am aware.
You only sign for purchases above a certain dollar value.
green wombat misses the bigger point.
The retailer now has your email, how many times that email makes a purchase, how much that email spends, etc. Convenience for you, but marketing gold for Apple.
The receipt is just one aspect. You should consider the power that the servers will consume (and all the energy spent making those servers) if everyone started getting their receipts mailed. This is a good article albeit INCOMPLETE.
And no I dont buy the argument that the servers would be there anyway.
From the point of view of the environment this is a good idea but I don’t think people are ready to have their receipts delivered electronically. I do like have paper receipts, and like Amazon.com, creating smaller receipts is a good idea.
Ironically, the paperless office creates more paper, from my experience.
Nice find, Todd! Cheers to Apple for the innovation. I’d love to know how much they save on paper. I’d be willing to wager that the resources and energy that go into the paper production are higher than any costs associated with sending an e-mail receipt — plus the e-mail receipt is more useful for the consumer.
I don’t share some of the concerns I’m reading in this thread. Are you really worried about not getting the receipt in your e-mail? You run that same “risk” when you order something online (plus you run the risk of your item not showing up). Also long as you’re paying with a credit or debit card, there’s a record that you’ve made a purchase if there really ends up being a dispute.
RE: Privacy concerns of giving out your e-mail address: If you’re paying with a credit card, you’re already giving a retailer (and your credit card company) valuable information they can use for marketing purposes. You also run the same “risk” when you order something online and provide your personal information. If you’re really that concerned, you might consider using cash for all your purchases.
I just bought some cables from Apple store and I really like the electronics receipt. They also give the paper copy. I think they should make that optional