Sylvie*, cashier in a Promod store in the Paris region, no longer has the opportunity to handle receipts. Since 2018, his shop has sent his customers’ invoices directly electronically. A way of avoiding wasting paper, which has already become commonplace. “But people panic a little when they are told that they will not pick it up by hand, she confides. Some because they do not have an email address, others because they have afraid of simply not receiving them”. Not all customers who are “refractory” to this digital change are seniors: it has happened that “fifties” have expressed their discomfort to Sylvie. It is not as easy to get rid of a habit, even if it seems as ridiculous as that of the receipt.
Its consumers will however have to get used to it. Next year, they will no longer be printed automatically, regardless of the business. The measure is part of the law of February 10, 2020 relating to the fight against waste and the circular economy, and is far from being unpopular. In March 2022, 53% of French people said they were certainly in favor of sending receipts digitally, according to an online survey by the company Opinea. But, initially scheduled for January 1, 2023, the measure has been postponed to April 1. The high inflationwhich obviously affects the prices of supermarkets, makes it almost essential that customers consult the receipt.
The invoices for the races are not the only ones covered by the decree, which also concerns bank card receipts, those issued by automatic machines, as well as promotional or reduction vouchers. Intended to reduce the flow of more than 30 billion tickets issued each year, the measure should prevent the waste of more than 150,000 tons of paper. In one Facebook post published in February 2020, Michel-Edouard Leclerc, president of the strategic committee of the centers of the same name, thus explained that a hypermarket uses, for example, on average “10,600 rolls of thermal paper” per year, “i.e. the equivalent of the distance Paris-Montpellier”.
The removal of these mountains of paper is also put forward as a means of reducing the population’s contact with dangerous substances. The vast majority of these invoices (90%) are thus composed of chemical elements such as bisphenol A, an endocrine disruptor. But beyond the ecological and health virtues of the text, consumer associations are wondering about a disruption of habits that could disturb customers, whatever their age.
Faster and faster races
Its future application is far from unanimous. Déborah, in Toulouse, is divided. “In a way, it’s a good idea, because apart from throwing it away when I get home, I admit I don’t do anything with it, says the young woman. But I have the impression that we removes the means of control from us”. Several hundred kilometers from Sylvie, in the Var, Emilie, almost thirty, shares in her case the disarray of customers who have gone through Sylvie’s checkout: “I find it distressing, she explains. How are we going to verify the transactions? And what are the companies and associations that use it as proof going to do?
First, don’t panic: customers who want a physical receipt can always get it at supermarket checkouts. But they will have to apply. “This is a problem for us, first of all because each consumer will not necessarily be informed that he can take this step”, begins Julie Vanhille, secretary general of the association for Defense, Education and consumer information (Adeic ). Following the example of other consumer associations, the Adeic is upwind against the abolition of receipts, to the point of having “again alerted the Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and the Repression of Fraud “. Organizations worry about barriers to customer complaints. “Without receipt, no proof of purchase, and therefore no possible complaint, points out Morgane Lenain, administrator in charge of consumption at the National Union of Family Associations (Unaf). Ask customers to do it themselves the request for a receipt is completely counter-intuitive, at a time when everything pushes to buy more and more quickly”.
An approximate application
Organizations are also alarmed by the approximate application of the measure. “According to the feedback from our members, some stores show that there is a misunderstanding. Cashiers and cashiers have, for example, replied that the law now prohibits them from printing tickets, which is totally false”, continues Julie Vanhille. However, the text is very clear: if the customer so requests, no merchant can refuse to print a ticket, even if it has been sent to him beforehand via the Internet. In the same way, products such as computers, photography, toys or household appliances are not included in the list of purchases affected by the decree. The systematic printing of the receipt, necessary to exercise the guarantee, will always be valid in these cases.
Morgane Lenain, administrator in charge of consumption at Unaf
An alternative to physical tickets will also be offered to customers, who will be able to receive them in their mailboxes. French people with tablets, computers or smartphones will be able to consult dematerialized invoices – a practice already used in many brands. Loyalty cards or customer accounts should also allow, in supermarkets for example, to access their shopping list. “But who has enough space on a smartphone to accumulate all the brand applications that someone can visit?” asks Julie Vanhille. The creation of multiple customer accounts, where, until now, these were not necessary, worries consumer organizations. “This measure encourages you to systematically give an email address, or a telephone number, to receive information so far given naturally, points out Morgane Lenain. But everyone should have the right to shop anonymously”.
The danger of electronicism
If several start-ups have already specialized in the anonymization of consumer data, it is unlikely that all customers will necessarily think of these issues when crossing the doors of supermarkets. “Not to mention that not everyone has a mobile phone or email address!, continues Morgane Lenain. For these people, the dematerialization of their receipts is a real challenge”. Access to digital tools is not given to everyone: 15 to 20% of the French population is confronted with illectronism, while dematerialization is accelerating everywhere, from public services… to their shopping list. Last regret of consumer associations: the physical disappearance of receipts – and those of bank cards – will pose a problem for budget support professionals. “The practice of home economics advisers is to materialize each stage of purchases to help people become aware of each purchase they make, notes Morgane Lenain. Their daily life will become more difficult”.
No need to require an accompanying person to experience this feeling. Emilie like Déborah points out their need, even today, to check their receipt to make sure that all the products have been taken into account, and at the right price. “A few days ago, I noticed that a reduction of 22 euros had not been applied at the cash desk, because I had my ticket in hand. And 22 euros is not nothing, especially today today: I went directly to make my claim at the checkout!”, says Julie Vanhille. The executive seems to have realized this general need to check his ticket, postponing the entry into force of the measure for a few weeks. “The context explains this decision,” Olivier Grégoire’s cabinet told AFP, referring to “feedback from distributors and consumer associations”: “The receipt remains for many French people an important element of verification prices of the products purchased, in the face of inflation”.
Refractory consumers and traders will therefore be able to take advantage of paper tickets for some time. “Many self-employed and auto-entrepreneurs are not yet aware. They have not even bought the devices necessary to send receipts via the Internet, remarks Grégoire Leclercq, president of the National Federation of autos. -entrepreneurs. It will still take time for them to adapt”. They are obviously not the only ones.
*Name has been changed.