The missed opportunity of sales receipt

Every time a customer does business with an organization, a receipt is created. That receipt is an obvious opportunity for post-purchase engagement - and it's an opportunity that most companies, perplexingly, are not taking advantage of.

In a keynote session at last month's National Retail Federation's Big Show, Jack Dorsey, CEO of Square and chairman of Twitter, highlighted the big potential in this small moment. In his talk "The Receipt: A Communication Channel," he pointed out that many customers don't even bother taking the little pieces of paper, because they're "not useful." Dorsey issued a challenge to his audience: "All of you give these receipts out by the thousands if not millions every single day - how do you make them viable unto themselves?"

Dorsey's suggestion: think of the receipt as a communication channel. "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?" Dorsey asked. It's a question, he noted, that both merchants and loyalty marketers should be thinking about. "We believe that if you give something of value to people, they will come back."

Dorsey is exactly right. Especially as receipts move from paper to digital, in the form of emails and texts, there is a huge potential in paying attention to this small post-purchase interaction. With even a little bit of creative brainstorming, it's easy to come up with ideas about what could go on a receipt, from savings on future purchases to details on how to get loyalty programme VIP treatment to points for providing feedback on that transaction.

As I point out in my recent article "What Brands Should Be Doing After the Sale", we know that engaging with customers right after a purchase is one of the best times to connect with them. Their emotions are high, either because they love what they just got or because they're having second thoughts, and marketers have a unique but short-windowed opportunity to reinforce good feelings about what they bought and about the company they did business with. And as Dorsey noted, those moments directly after a sale set the stage for future interactions.

The great news is that easy-to-use technology allows marketers to put together powerful post-purchase strategies. Ideas include using follow-up emails to engage and educate; executing bounce-back strategies such as alerts for recurring purchases; creating cross-sale opportunities; and leveraging social media such as encouraging customers to post photos of themselves with their purchases and comment on other customers' photos. Starting with the very first post-purchase communication, the lowly receipt, could be a significant first step in building relationships - relationships with both your new arrivals and your core customers.

The author is Jeff Berry, senior director, research and development, LoyaltyOne.
Re-printed with permission. Link: http://www.loyalty.com/research-insights/blog/the-missed-opportunity-of-the-sales-receipt