What is an Electronic Receipt? Advantages & Disadvantages of e-Receipts.


In the traditional business setting, often companies would issue paper or hard copy receipts to their clients to provide proof of payment being made for the goods or services they had provided. In the 21st century, more & more companies are moving to the online world, with that adopting an e-receipt or electronic receipt method, rather than the traditional hard copy or paper receipts.

So, what is an e-receipt or electronic receipt?

Digital receipts are known as e-Receipts. A consumer receives an electronic receipt from you as proof of payment. E-receipts are entirely digital, as opposed to having a tangible paper receipt.

Digital receipts are becoming accepted as valid purchase documentation and tax-time evidence in several nations. That’s a wonderful invention that reduces the amount of documentation you must keep!

Consider the fact that, in some cases, you must retain a record of all of your financial transactions for 6 years in a country where you are required to keep receipts. Paper receipts could have easily been misplaced or destroyed during that time.

Thankfully, most financial institutions and governments in the twenty-first century let firms use electronic receipts to satisfy their legal and tax obligations.

So now that we know what an e-receipt or electronic receipt is, what are the advantages of using such systems today?

What are the advantages of electronic receipts?

It is safe to say that the advantages of e-receipts or electronic receipts are rather extensive, ranging widely across the board. Below are the reasons to switch to electronic, paperless receipt systems:

Businesses Adore Digital Receipts

Digital receipts offer businesses the chance to sell their products and services. With Yubilly, businesses can save money by not having to buy paper or toner cartridges to print customer receipts. Because receipt printers are frequently specialized equipment, they are no longer required when retailers provide receipts via email.

Save money, time and paper

When printing receipts on paper, it’s frequently necessary to utilize a specialized printer and specific paper. The usage of digital receipts can help you save these costs as well as the price of toner cartridges. With Yubilly, you can help reduce paper use since it is completely digital.

When you buy something and you make a payment, Yubilly directly creates a digital bill so that you can easily track your expenses and make your accounting process less stressful since you can store your bills in your mobile via Yubilly. 

But surely there are downsides to having a paperless electronic receipt system, right? Well, there are a few downsides to consider.

The Disadvantages of Electronic Receipt systems

While there are big advantages to adopting the ever-so-practical paperless, eco-friendly electronic receipt systems of the new technology era, there are some small downsides to consider, these are listed below as the following:

  • Your email address is known to the retailer, company, or organization; therefore you may anticipate receiving more spam.
  • Information is sold by retailers to outside parties.
  • Digital receipts could become blocked by spam filters.

As you can see, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages in the eco-friendliness electronic receipt battle here today.

Conclusion

Whilst the move to the electronic paperless receipt may seem daunting & a little frightening, the move is most likely going to make things easier & just overall better whilst being eco-friendly as a bonus. Making the change is a simple process with applications & systems readily available. Of course, there are disadvantages to the advantages however weighing it up, it is worth the switch to electronic paperless receipt systems today.

References

6 advantages of keeping digital receipts. QuickBooks Canada. (2016, December 2). Retrieved August 25, 2022, from https://quickbooks.intuit.com/ca/resources/running-a-business/6-advantages-of-keeping-digital-receipts/ 

Daily, L. (2019, December 17). When it comes to bills and receipts, are you team paper or Team Digital? The Washington Post. Retrieved August 25, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/when-it-comes-to-bills-and-receipts-are-you-team-paper-or-team-digital/2019/12/16/0767c604-1db8-11ea-87f7-f2e91143c60d_story.html 

The Pros and cons of offering receipts and prints. Runit. (2019, May 28). Retrieved August 25, 2022, from https://www.runit.com/blog/retailers-offer-ereceipts-printed-receipts/ 

TheConsumerman. (2014, January 23). Paper or email? pros and cons of digital receipts. CNBC. Retrieved August 25, 2022, from https://www.cnbc.com/2014/01/23/paper-or-email-pros-and-cons-of-digital-receipts.html 

What is an e-receipt & how it is helpful to business? FreshBooks. (n.d.). Retrieved August 25, 2022, from https://www.freshbooks.com/en-gb/hub/invoicing/e-receipt