The Receipt
I love receipts! I dashed into CVS the other day and like many shoppers who have commented online, the smallest purchase at a CVS can generate a receipt full of future deals or, perhaps, a sweepstakes you can enter to win.
In an age of currency that is largely credit or increasingly Venmo-centered, a receipt is still the best way to tangibly tally (short of turning over cash) what I’m spending my money on and internalize its value. Not to mention, it is the single best way to see if you were double scanned or the deal-on-shelf registered at, well, the register. And of course, I LOVE the receipts that show me all the discounts I have masterminded on both individual products and, yes, even the entire bill.
Then, added to the printed receipt are coupons that are tailored to me and the products I already like to buy, which yes, I will buy more of – it is free money! Or so I like to think. I won’t hold on to my coupon receipts to try something I have not used before. I like what I like. But I do get a thrill sharing the coupons I don’t want with my family and friends because it lets them know I care about them enough to give them free money!
About the only time I don’t like to take receipts is at doggie day camp or even worse overnight stays. Those bills are just too painful as much as I love my pooch. And I am not a fan of receipts at gas stations, except on a business trip where tangible proof of purchase is highly valued. At $40-$50 a tank, my non-electric SUV is a relative guzzler with a constant need for more, more and more fuel. Not to mention those fast speed tolls that are so fast you don’t get a receipt and dread the paper bill (yes paper) when you are asked (no told) to put more money in your account, or should I say on your credit card.
I say long live the friendly receipt that tallies up my purchases and, importantly, gives me something in return – future discounts, a sweepstakes chance that is surely better than the lottery and tangible proof that while a store may have my data, they don’t always know me as well as they think they do.
