So, I went to an Apple store the other day to get a replacement USB iPod cable (long uninteresting story why). As I was checking out the cheerful black t-shirt clad Apple-ite asked me for my email address. When I asked why, I was told “so that we may email you your receipt”. I relented and provided him one of my email addresses, and sure enough when I got home a PDF copy of my store receipt was in my inbox.
Now, I don’t shop at Apple stores all that frequently, so I don’t know how long they’ve been doing this, the last time I bought something they printed a 8.5″ x 11″ receipt on a standard laser printer behind the counter. I actually found having a digital copy of the receipt a handy thing.
However, this was not the first thing that entered my mind when the gent told me that they’d be emailing me my proof of purchase. Instead, I immediately wondered was “how much do you think this saves them annually” (what can I say, it’s how my mind works).
I really wonder. I mean, even though the probably need to retain a single printer for the odd user who doesn’t have an email address (admittedly a rare thing for customers in an Apple store) or for those that refuse, I’d guess that this is a reduction in the number of printers they usually had before. Plus, the supplies (paper and toner) are basically trending to zero, and finally if you’re running less copies through the printer daily it’ll last longer before replacement.
These simple things can often add up to big money. I remember a project I once worked on for a major oil company, part of it was to eliminate the method they had previously used to transmit invoices to their stores (fax) and replace it with email and a webpage where one could download them. The dollar savings was a big number.
