Five years ago, a CVS representative explained that the reason why the pharmacy chain keeps printing such long receipts for customers is that customers like it. Maybe the public’s preferences have changed since 2011, since the chain officially announced today that it’s getting rid of the lengthy coupon-filled receipt streamers, and pre-loading coupons to customers’ rewards program cards instead.
We’ve been at war with receipt streamers for years now, sharing photos of receipts as long as 41 inches.
You can’t say that they’re completely useless, though, when it’s possible to make a mummy costume out of them.
TV host Jimmy Kimmel takes credit for this development, claiming it as part of his platform in a joke run for the a nomination as vice president from any political party.
CVS took the opportunity to announce the change on Kimmel’s late-night talk show on Friday, sending the president of their retail CVS Pharmacy division on the show to share the news and, of course, give him the credit.
Of course, many other factors might be the actual reason for the change: more consumers have smartphones now than in 2010, which is a great delivery method for receipts: paper receipts can’t nag consumers from the recycling bin, after all.
The longest receipts go to members of the pharmacy chain’s ExtraCare Rewards program, and being part of that program is the prerequisite for getting virtual receipts instead of streamers. If you tend to get long receipts and you’re not enrolled in the rewards program, well, that’s tough.
If you’re anxious to stop receiving epic receipts, you’ll have to wait: the rollout to all stores will be “by the end of June,” and it sounds like customers will have to opt in to the program.
CVS Pharmacy Says “So Long, Long Receipts,” Announces Arrival of Digital Receipts for Customers [Press Release]
by Laura Northrup via Consumerist
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