As of last week, English retailers fell in line with the rest of the UK, and implemented a 5p charge for plastic bags. No doubt this will be greeted with grumbling until everyone gets used to the idea, but I hope most consumers will eventually agree that, from an environmental standpoint, this is a step in the right direction. Plus if you are anything like me you probably already have a vast stockpile of the things at home.

As consumers become more environmentally conscious, retailers not only have a responsibility to respect this, but can also take advantage of the opportunity to save some money whilst also saving the planet.

Digital receipts (receipts that are emailed to the customer instead of printed in store) provide a similar opportunity for retailers to save paper, and to save on printing costs, which can be significant for retailers with hundreds of stores.

Paper receipts are a particular bugbear of mine. I rarely actually need to keep them, and when I do need to find one I have to rummage through a nightmarish uncategorized box file, only to find that I didn’t bother to keep that particular one.

Digital receipts, on the other hand, can be stored virtually and easily retrieved by the customer when necessary, for example when returning an item in store. Mothercare have recently implemented the functionality in their mobile app, so store staff can simply scan a QR code in the app when a customer makes a purchase, and the digital receipt is stored within her account.

Beyond the obvious advantages for consumers (and the planet), digital receipts provide some real benefits for retailers:

Joining up the channels

One of the oddities about this multichannel world is that retailers tend to know a whole lot more about people who shop with us online than we do about customers who actually walk into our physical stores. Digital receipts mean that you can close this gap. Match the email address from an in-store customer with one registered on your website, and suddenly you know a whole lot more about that customer’s shopping habits.

Lots of lovely customer data

Suddenly you have a lot more data about your customer’s shopping habits; about when and where she shops and what she buys, whether it’s in store or online. You can use these customer profiles to create a loyalty scheme by which you can reward frequent customers, drive footfall and personalise marketing content.

Marketing opportunities

Your customers are far more likely to open an email containing their digital receipt than any other email you send them, so why not use some of that space for some additional marketing? Experian’s Email Benchmark Report back in 2014 showed that digital receipts see open rates up to 108% higher than for email newsletters, and that up-sell and cross-sell within those emails can increase CTRs by as much as 600%. Argos saw open rates of more than 70% when they implemented digital receipts last year.

Above and beyond the possibilities of email marketing, having a joined up view of what your customers are purchasing, via any channel, has real potential for personalised product recommendations.

In-store returns

Digital receipts can enhance the in-store experience by making the returns process more convenient, which will also help free up time for your staff in store.

So digital receipts can improve customer service, facilitate your marketing efforts and save the planet? Too good to be true? Maybe. But certainly from a convenience point of view I believe they offer a step in the right direction for enhancing the customer experience and joining up the channels.

By Emma Bonar, Digital Business Consultant.