Managing Digital Receipts: How To Choose The Right Software

Modern consumers increasingly prefer digital channels for making purchases and completing payments. This trend has made businesses turn to contemporary solutions, whether selling products online or in-store.

Cash and traditional paper receipts are quickly becoming outdated. Instead, digital receipts, which offer a convenient and eco-friendly alternative, are gaining momentum. 

Rather than storing paper receipts in cluttered wallets, consumers receive digital records of their purchases via email or SMS. Businesses benefit from this shift too, as digital receipts streamline the sales process and simplify record-keeping. 

To help you make the most of e-receipts and integrate them into your operations, we’ve created this comprehensive guide. Keep reading to learn everything from understanding what a digital receipt is to learning how to choose the right tool for you.

What Are Digital Receipts?

Digital receipts, also known as electronic receipts or e-receipts, contain the same information as traditional paper receipts, such as purchase details, payment method, applicable taxes and business information. They can be sent via email or SMS, allowing customers to access them at any time for future reference.

While they first gained popularity with e-commerce transactions, digital receipts have now become standard practice for in-store purchases as well. Today, most businesses have adopted digital receipts for both online and face-to-face payments, with some merchants even going completely paperless.

Electronic receipts have also become common in the B2B landscape due to their convenience. When a business completes a transaction, the other party sends an e-receipt as proof of transaction receipt. These are known as payment confirmation receipts, and they differ from invoices and the standard receipts provided to customers. 

How Do E-receipts Work?

To send paperless receipts, a merchant needs a digital receipt tool. Digital receipts work the same way paper ones do, but instead of being printed from a card machine or printer, they are sent electronically with the help of a point-of-sale (POS) software. 

When a customer completes a transaction for a product or service, the vendor generates a receipt electronically through their POS system. Then, the customer chooses how they want to receive it—via email, SMS, their online account or a mobile app. A copy of the receipt is also stored in the business’ system as part of their transaction records.

Once the receipt is sent, the customer can access it on their mobile device at any time. They may also save the receipt in various formats, such as a PDF or image file. 

The merchant also keeps a copy. Businesses are required to store digital receipts for a certain period as proof of payment for future accounting, inventory and tax purposes.

Benefits Of Using Digital Receipts In Your Business

Going paperless and investing in a digital receipt tool is a great strategy for every company. It brings forth numerous benefits to both merchants and buyers. Moreover, with the increasing adoption of digital tools and a greater focus on sustainability, eliminating paper receipts is a smart move.

Here we’ve highlighted the most significant advantages from using digital receipts:

• Speed: digital receipts are generated instantly, eliminating the need to wait for a printed receipt or change paper roll. This makes the payment process smoother and more efficient.
• Convenience: once you have set up the design and entered your business details in the digital receipt template, issuing a receipt is extremely easy. 
• Cost-effective: e-receipts help cut costs by eliminating business expenses for receipt paper and ink, particularly for high-demand enterprises. They also streamline operations, leading to long-term cost savings.
• Easy to track: digital documents are much easier to store and track. They can be quickly accessed and the risk of lost files is minimised because a digital filing system allows for backups.
• Eco-friendly: in high-volume businesses, printed receipts can consume a lot of paper, which is unnecessary waste, contains toxic chemicals and has a significant environmental impact. 
• Seamless integration: many payment solutions already include digital receipt features, and for those that don’t, the integration is simple.
• Enhance customer service: digital receipts streamline the customer payment process and demonstrate that businesses are adapting to current trends. In addition, once received, customers have easy access to them.

The best part is that today, enterprises of all sizes, including small businesses, have access to affordable digital receipt solutions.

Are They Safe To Use?

While there are still privacy concerns about processing a vendor payment or receipt digitally, the latest digital receipt technology ensures high security for sensitive information. Merchants using digital receipt software must also comply with various regulations to ensure safety.

To protect consumer security and guard against fraud, UK organisations must adhere to specific data protection laws, consumer rights legislation and security standards when issuing e-receipts.

Receipts often contain personal information, such as a customer’s name, email address and transaction data. That’s why businesses must comply with GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and DPA 2018 (Data Protection Act 2018) by collecting, processing and storing this data securely. Additionally, if a business uses customer data from digital receipts for marketing emails, it must obtain explicit consent from the customer.

Organisations must also provide clear and accurate information about purchases and should include all necessary details about the transaction in the receipts. 

These regulations are part of the broader compliance requirements for managing electronic receipts, all aimed at protecting consumers and their personal details.

Integrating Digital Receipts Into Your Accounting Software

Integrating digital receipts into your accounting software can significantly improve operational efficiency and accuracy. By automating receipt management, merchants can streamline the checkout process, enhance their record-keeping and reduce manual errors. 

In addition, having your accounting software and digital receipt system in one place will simplify financial reporting and tax compliance. Fortunately, most digital receipt maker tools are designed with integration in mind, making them easy to connect with popular accounting platforms. 

Whether you’re using an in-house system or cloud-based accounting software, integrating digital receipts ensures that your financial processes remain efficient and accurate.

How to Effectively Manage Digital Receipts

Digital receipts are easy to use and convenient. However, as a merchant, it’s crucial to have the right tools and strategies in place to manage them efficiently. The key is to keep your documents organised and use one platform to manage all payment-related tasks.

Here are some strategies to help you manage digital receipts effectively: 

• Organise your records properly: one of the simplest ways to manage digital receipts is to create a dedicated folder on your computer or cloud storage, or use a digital receipt app. Several apps allow you to manage e-receipts easily and can be integrated with your payment processing system. This helps keep your documents organised and ensures they are easily accessible at any time.

• Use an integrated payment solution: an efficient way to manage e-receipts is through a comprehensive platform. In addition to offering payment acceptance solutions, such platforms often allow you to send receipts in digital format. After that, you can easily access and track your transaction files from your merchant account.

• Regularly back up data: while digital files are easier to store, they are still vulnerable to loss, ransomware or malware attacks. To prevent this, it’s essential to regularly back up e-receipt copies along with other important business documentation. You can do this on a hard drive or by using a cloud storage system.

By following these steps, you can streamline your receipt management and keep track of your expenses, which can be facilitated with the help of the right e-receipt tool.

Best Digital Receipt Software For Businesses

The best digital receipt software for a business depends on its unique needs and characteristics. However, there are several essential features that any e-receipt generator must have to meet the demands of modern commerce.

Overall, the ideal digital receipt software can be easily integrated into your existing systems or comes pre-installed into your payment processing or accounting solution.

Many fintech platforms provide payment solutions specifically designed with the small business in mind. They typically combine all the services needed to process payments and manage finances on a single platform. 

This allows merchants to optimise their workflow and focus on core business activities without investments in additional software or hardware. Additionally, it simplifies access to sales data and important documentation.

Beyond ease of integration, here are other key features to look for when choosing a digital receipt solution:

• Customisation options: to add your brand elements to the receipt design.
• Multi-channel delivery: to enable customers to receive digital receipts via email, SMS or other popular methods.
• Robust security features: to ensure compliance and protect customer data.
• Cost-efficiency in the long run: to allow for scalability as your business needs evolve.
• Analytics and reporting tools: to help you track and analyse purchase data and better understand customer behaviour.

By considering these factors, you can ensure that you select the most suitable digital receipt solution to help your business reach its full potential.

Future Trends

Until about two decades ago, paper receipt was the norm. Today, most businesses offer digital receipts, and many have already transitioned to a fully digital format.

As technology continues to evolve and integrate more deeply into our lives, we can expect an increasing number of systems and applications to incorporate digital receipts, offering even greater flexibility to users.

Furthermore, blockchain technology is also poised to play a significant role in the future of digital tools, including e-receipts. By offering advanced data security mechanisms, blockchain will provide cutting-edge protection for receipt information and payment details.

Finally, as more businesses adopt digital receipts, data analytics will improve and record-keeping will become more precise. Thanks to this, businesses will gain deeper insights into customer engagement and spending patterns. This information will help merchants refine their customer experience and optimise their marketing strategies.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I send digital receipts?

You can send a digital receipt to a customer once the transaction is approved. This can be done by either emailing it or sending it via SMS. After sending the receipt, you can easily download it or store it in your account, depending on the software you are using, for future reference.

How can QR codes on receipts be used when in digital format?

Since digital receipts are simply electronic versions of traditional paper receipts, they often include QR codes. By scanning the QR code, customers can access detailed receipt information, track loyalty points or even process returns. Despite the receipt being digital, customers can still scan the QR code displayed on their phone or desktop using the camera of another compatible device.

Is it safe to store receipts digitally?

Yes, storing receipts digitally is safe when proper security measures are in place. Receipts often include sensitive information, such as the sale date, purchase amount, and business and payment details. By using a reliable digital paperless receipt system, merchants can ensure secure storage, regular backups and protection against data breaches and fraud.