We’ve covered much about how digital receipts can drive customer engagement. However, in the age of pervasive digital disruption, artificial intelligence as a service, computer vision and 5G networks, digital receipts still have the potential to disrupt more global sectors than many other innovations as we head into the 2020s.
Don’t believe us? 87% of the UK population and 92% of the US population shop online – and will, therefore, receive a digital receipt for all their purchases. 5G has yet to be rolled out on all mobile networks, computer vision is still in its infancy and AI as a service is gaining traction all the time but not yet mainstream.
The Future of Expense Data Extraction (EDE) is Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
2020 is primed to be the year that OCR and digital receipt technology monopolize consumer attention. Even if it’s not and receipt data extraction still patiently waits for expansive adoption, sooner rather than later proof of purchase will be completely revolutionized.
However, what the continued dominance of online shopping tells us is that the next decade merchandising strategies will need to become more personal, efficient and profitable to grab consumer attention and provide a staple ROI for businesses to depend on. In the next decade, receipt tracking and consumer engagement will dictate brand awareness, trust and, ultimately, success.
Here’s how we expect digital receipts to drive customer engagement in the coming decade.
Promotional and Loyalty Campaigns
We’ve already blogged extensively about promotional and loyalty campaigns – and for good reason. They are a great way to increase customer engagement whilst building a brand identity that is both remembered and praised.
Digital receipt tracking is a great way to boost your brand. Learn customer’s preferences and you’ll be able to instantly promote relevant offers at the point of sale. Dilute your brand with irrelevant offers and you’ll likely to see zero ROI or even turn customers off. Promote products at affordable prices that your customers want.
Speed and Convenience
In today’s on-demand economy, consumers expect their every wish to be fulfilled. Collect in store. Home delivery. What do these demands have in common? They shout convenience – and quick.
This presents businesses with an opportunity. Make receipts digital. No one, or very, very few consumers, meticulously keep all their paper receipts. They are discarded immediately on purchase. Digital receipts are a no-fuss proof of payment solution. And the words, ‘no fuss’ are the key here. If customers already EXPECT a swift and convenient shopping experience at the end of 2019, do you really think that they’ll be satisfied with a laborious and messy proof of purchase as we enter the 2020s?
There are added benefits to businesses too. The current sustainability trend doesn’t appear to be dwindling. Is it unreasonable to assume that in the next decade consumers won’t want paper receipts? Then there’s the cost-saving of paper and ink. Promotional receipt data extraction and speed and convenience isn’t the only element driving customer engagement. There’s more.
Expense Management
In the UK 73% of people now use online banking. 161 million US citizens bank online. 90% of people living in the UAE bank online. The meteoric rise of online banking has revolutionized financial management. Digital receipts and receipt tracking apps have the potential to do the same thing – after all, there’s certainly market interest there.
Banking and budgeting apps online track digital transactions. There’s an obvious gap in cash purchases which EDE can fill to create e-receipts. More accurate data – like that which can be identified with receipt data extraction – results in smarter budgeting. It’s an evolution of online banking and something that analysts expect to see come into focus as we enter the 2020s.
Customer Feedback
Collecting customer data is integral to ongoing commercial prosperity. With new innovations, CEOs and directors can discover more sophisticated ways of learning customer opinions. This information helps optimize processes, create personalized content and promote POS offers.
E-receipts help businesses to tailor brand messages to customers with unparalleled ease. All they need to do is ask a simple yes or no question. ‘Was this product helpful?’ ‘Are you interested in learning about our offers?’ ‘Want to save 30% on your next order?’ Simple, right. But highly effective.
All gleaned data can be sent to an organization’s headquarters and fed back to store managers, allowing them to create or tweak promotions, identify trends, capitalize on expectations and make trends to improve the customer experience. Such receipt tracking data is so powerful that it has the potential to completely revolutionize consumer experience in the coming decade, all by listening to what customers say about your business.
Digital receipts are destined to drive customer experience in the coming decade. This isn’t an opinion or a prophecy, the research, data, and statistics show that this is a fact.
The only question left is, how prepared are you for the digital receipt revolution?