3 reasons why all restaurants should switch to digital bills (e-receipts)

1 – E-receipts are better for the environment

2 – Digital bills help restaurants grow their email list

3 – E-receipts are great for business travellers

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In this post, we will talk about the importance of e-receipts and discuss 3 reasons why all restaurants should switch to digital bills. 

Historically, the hospitality industry wasn’t the most innovative one; however, the last few years brought a lot of changes. The industry is becoming increasingly digital; many restaurants and coffee spots are going cashless and technology his taking over customer experience. While some restaurant owners are quite conservative and usually oppose any changes in the hospitality industry, many others are happy to try new technology, use new apps to find gig workers and waiters and be featured on countless foodie apps. 

In order to keep up with the competition and stay on top of the trends, you need to adopt some of the latest developments in the industry. One of such developments is completely changing the checkout process at the restaurants by replacing traditional paper bills with digital or electronic bills sent to customer’s email address. 

You might be wondering what the point of getting rid of the paper receipts is? Well, there are a few reasons for that, and below, we will list the three main reasons to get rid of the paper bills and replace them with digital bills at a restaurant. 

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So here are three main reasons to switch to digital bills:

1 – Electronic receipts are better for the environment 

The first reason why all restaurants should switch to digital bills is that e-bills are better for the environment. Restaurants in the United Kingdom print over 810 million paper receipts every year. Most of them are immediately thrown away and never looked at, and over 90% of them cannot be recycled because they are printed on a thermal paper. 

It takes around 55,000 receipts (including bills) to destroy one tree. By combining their efforts, six average restaurants in the UK remove one tree per year, which is frustrating. 

Are the paper bills the new plastic straws? At TableYeti, we believe so. While smaller businesses like coffee shops and takeaways managed to (at least partially) get rid of the paper bills by asking their customers if they need a receipt, it’s much more complicated, when you’re doing the table service. That’s why we came up with the idea of TableYeti – a smart payment device that allows you to split the restaurant bill at the table and replaces paper bills with the digital ones. You can read more about our restaurant card machine here. 

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2 – E-receipts help restaurants grow their email list

Another fantastic reason to switch to e-receipts is the opportunity to grow your email list. In one of our previous blog posts at the TableYeti restaurant owner’s blog, we discussed the importance of email marketing at the restaurants. Long story short, you can inform your most loyal customers about your latest events, seasonal menus and best deals and offers. You can also introduce a loyalty program and reward your loyal customers as well as provide an incentive for your customers to return. 

One of the easiest ways to grow your email list is by replacing the paper bills with the electronic receipts. Customers are usually provided with an opportunity to sign up for marketing communication when paying at the restaurant. Having analysed over 46,000 transactions in the last five months, we have estimated that circa 5% of customers are happy to opt-in for marketing communication from the restaurant that they liked. That means more returning customers and especially at times when you need them.

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3 – E-receipts are great for business travellers 

Finally, digital bills are beneficial for business travellers, who need to keep track of their business expenses and have to submit them later for a refund. Paper receipts often get lost, so the easiest way to keep most of the business expenses in one place is by requesting a digital copy of the receipts sent to the customer’s email address. 

Business travellers only need to provide their business email, and they will have all their receipts in one place. This would make their life much easier.

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Alright, so these were three main reasons why all restaurants should switch to electronic bills and why it is great for the planet, convenient for the business travellers and beneficial for the restaurants as well.

Are you ready to make a change and switch to electronic receipts? We at TableYeti are happy to help and chat if you’re interested in installing a TableYeti Payment Device at your restaurant.