The receipt is a platform
I love platforms. I love opportunities to discover existing real estate in the human experience and add value and depth.
A couple years ago, I worked on a project to standardize the expression of social activities online. In describing the goals, I suggested that we were creating “receipts for the things you did online.” It was helpful then to draw analogies with things in the environment that people were already familiar with, but now it seems that the receipt itself is ripe for an overhaul.
Jack Dorsey, as CEO of Square, talked about this in January:
“What if we see the receipt more as a publishing medium — a product unto itself that people actually want to take home, that they want to engage with, be fully interactive with? [..]What can we build into this canvas that’s actually valuable, that’s independent of the product you just sold? What can you give in this communication channel, this publishing medium, that people want to engage with?”
Of course, Square’s receipts have long been pretty, informative, and functional:
But Square isn’t the only one realizing that the receipt is the perfect post-transaction mechanism for re-engaging customers—Lyft and Uber are in hot pursuit:
But clearly not everyone recognizes this opportunity. Most of the digital receipts I get still look something like this (considering I got this just last month demonstrates how far there is to go):
Or, like this (does AT&T really think anyone reads these things?!):
Curiously, I’ve recently used two restaurant reservation services — one that tallies your bill as you go (OpenTable) and the other (Reserve — use my promo code EJUJE7 to get $10 off your first order!) sends you a receipt for what you paid afterwards. Both were relatively positive automated checkout experiences, but there were minimal invitations to further engage when these email receipts arrived:
This, I believe, will change.
So I say this: if you’re a savvy web business, don’t overlook the basic and simplistic ways your customers encounter you and your brand. These could be powerful moments of differentiation, and can help build lasting and long term loyalty. Discovery, promotion, and engagement are coming to receipts. It’s just a matter of time.
Watch this space!
☞ If you’re interested in hearing more from Chris Messina in the future, sign up for his newsletter or follow him on Twitter.
☞ If you found this interesting, provocative, or useful, please tap the ♥️. Chris has no idea how promotion works on Medium anymore, but it’ll make him feel better, and that’s a good thing, right?
