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Ask HN: Would you like to Never get a paper recept again?

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11–13 of 13 posts

Re: Ask HN: Would you like to Never get a paper recept again?

#11

Square is obviously trying to tackle this with Square Register by replacing POS systems altogether which includes a slew of features they offer including paperless receipts emailed (with geolocation, etc...). That said, I don't think that bears anything on you being able to compete but I do think trying to tackle this problem is incredibly difficult on a large scale. The other issue is some people will always want pr…

Those are points that I definitely thought about and I am trying to see if there really is a market for this. The more I see it though, as you pointed out, is that it might not be successful on a large scale (yet) but perhaps will find success in a niche market

Re: Ask HN: Would you like to Never get a paper recept again?

#12
No. Printing a paper receipt takes a second or two and is absolutely foolproof. Providing my e-mail address is slow, awkward and annoying, because retail staff can't spell my name. I have no way of checking that I've actually received a receipt during the transaction, which might cost me money if I'm unable to return the goods or make a warranty claim.

Paper receipts aren't a meaningful environmental problem. A major British supermarket recently reduced their receipt paper consumption by half, by fitting double-sided thermal printers to all of their POS terminals. The total environmental benefit amounted to less than 300 tonnes of CO2; In a business with revenues of £21bn, that amounts to no more than a rounding error.

Paper receipts are very valuable to many businesses, because they can substantially reduce shrinkage. Many catering businesses have a clearly stated policy that "If you don't get a receipt, your order is free". This makes it far harder for employees to serve a customer and pocket the money, which was historically a very expensive problem for many businesses.

Most retail businesses have a lot of money invested in their POS equipment - not just the equipment itself but also the staff training and support infrastructure. Paperless receipts offer no obvious benefit to most businesses, but the costs would be substantial - replacing their POS equipment, retraining their staff and the cost of lost sales due to the inevitable teething problems of any new system.

I don't see why any business owner would pay you money for this. They don't see anything wrong with printed receipts - they're easy to deal with, keep their employees honest and cost them virtually nothing.

Re: Ask HN: Would you like to Never get a paper recept again?

#13

Yes, Apple stores already do this as you mention. The details are really difficult, though. For example, someone returning an item but they gave an invalid email address the first time through. Etc.

I agree, and that's part of the problem I think I'm trying to solve :) Some of the things I'm throwing around with my buddy is possibly having an mobile app as an endpoint so that email addresses don't have to be given up at the register. However, I believe in trying keep simplicity as a priority.

There is absolutely a demand for it, though. Especially with small business owners. I know a couple that have asked if something like it existed because come tax time, sorting the large number of receipts to either do yourself or hand off to someone else is difficult. Or if they choose not to do it, their tax people have charged extra for having to sort it all out. an email system would probably allow for better sorting too, I'd imagine.
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