Today’s post is by Mark Davis; Vice President of Operations and CTO at SafeSourcing. Mark asks "What does the trend of moving to emerging eReceipt technology mean?"
There are two issues which constantly face the business world and the retailing world in particular; becoming more environmentally friendly and acquiring product that is tied directly to commodities such lead, oil, paper, etc..
One area that is tied to both of these issues and that has been getting a lot of recent attention is in the area of printed receipts. Retailers spend millions of dollars a year on receipt paper and printers that produces a result that frequently ends up being thrown away. This waste has developed into is a movement into the world of eReceipts; receipts that are emailed to the customer’s email account and that can be scanned at the store using the customer’s SmartPhone.
While this movement is just starting out, organizations like the National Retail Federation have predicted that as much as 60% of retailers will be paperless within 5 years. So what does that mean for the procurement professional?
It means that for many of you, paper is not going to be gone tomorrow so keeping competitive contracts with current suppliers is still very important. What it also means is that now may be the time as a company, to begin to explore the possibility of eReceipts and the huge savings it could represent to your company in paper, printers and ink, as well as the time spent making the paper receipts work.
One way to prepare for this move is to speak with your current partners and see what plans they have for this shift in retail operations. Many POS, printer and paper companies have already seen this shift coming and have begun preparing the way with new products for this service.
You can also deal directly with 3rd party companies that specialize in this service. If this is a move you anticipate making in the next 18-24 months it may be a good idea to think about conducting on RFI for this service with your IT and operations team. RFIs that tie right into an online RFQ tool are a quick and easy way to get prepared for making a move into a new technology space that will not only encourage your company’s “green” initiatives but will likely save the company a great deal of money.
Feel free to reach out to a SafeSourcing account representative today to schedule a conversation about how to do this.
We look forward to and appreciate your comments.
