digital receipts - Whole Foods

[darkoshi]

Do any of you have experience with digital receipts at Whole Foods grocery stores?

Per several news articles on other websites, they do offer digital receipts.

But on their website, I don't see a way to create an online account, nor any mention of there being a shoppers card one can sign up for. I also checked my Amazon account - I don't see any options in it related to shopping at Whole Foods.

There is a Whole Foods app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wholefoods.wholefoodsmarket

But from what I read, the app is only useful if you have an Amazon Prime account, as then it lets you get extra discounts in the store. I don't see any mention of being able to sign up for digital receipts through it (but I haven't installed it, so can't be certain). I don't have a Prime account anyway, and don't plan on getting one.

So the only thing I can think of, is that when you're checking out, maybe you can give the cashier your email address right then, for them to email it to you? But then you'd need to give them your email address each time you shop??

Comments

[marahmarie]

Maybe you'd have to contact their Customer Service to find out. I just spent more time than I thought I would trying to find something on it. All I learned in search is that Whole Foods began offering digital receipts in 2011 and has been said by C|Net and a few other major websites as recently as 2018 to still offer them. I scoured the Whole Foods website and read the dev description for the WF app and some of its reviews (it's being bashed on a number of fronts) but came up empty-handed.

[darkoshi]

I'm going to try to remember to ask a cashier the next time I shop there. I was thinking about sending a question to customer support as you suggest, but even finding a link for doing that wasn't easy, so gave up. I think I saw a phone number listed, but I don't like talking on the phone.

[marahmarie]

Contact form: https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/content/customer-service

Found (barely; they do make it a PITA) strewn through some portions of their FAQ.

[darkoshi]

Thanks!

[darkoshi]

I submitted the question on that page, and it was forwarded to a "team leader" at my local store. They responded that they don't know about other regions, but here they only have paper receipts available. Weird.

[marahmarie]

That is really weird. I'd think a digital receipt program would be maintained on the corporate level for all stores so why your store doesn't participate is a good question. Maybe each store doesn't have to participate so this one chooses not to? But again, I'd think the program isn't maintained on the store level anyhow, so why they don't I've no idea.

[darkoshi]

One possibility is that they used to have a shoppers card with a digital receipt option, but no longer do, and whoever replied to my email hasn't been working there long enough to remember.

I found this: https://thepointsguy.com/news/amazon-ends-whole-foods-program/
2018/04/21: "Whole Foods’ young loyalty program is being discontinued by its new owner, Amazon. After about just one year of existence, Whole Foods’ loyalty program will officially end as of May 1."

The other webpages I had found which mentioned Whole Foods offering digital receipts go back to 2011 and 2012, so it must not have been tied to that short-lived loyalty program. Why the option would have been discontinued, or only offered in some areas, I'm still not clear. Maybe it requires special cash registers to be able to enter email addresses, and not all stores have them?

I think now that most likely you would have had to give the cashier your email address each time you asked for an emailed receipt, unless they linked it to a debit card or credit card number used for the purchases.

Further details I came across while searching:
https://scretail.org/email-receipts-getting-traction-at-major-retailers/
2012/11/06 : "Other companies with an e-receipt option include Nordstrom, Best Buy, Whole Foods, Kmart, Sears and Gap." The story goes on to say that "a third, or 35%, of retailers offer digital receipts, and half of them do so at all their stores, according to a survey of 3,900 retailers released earlier this year by marketing firm Epsilon."

http://customerthink.com/epsilon_launches_epsilon_digital_receipt/
"December 13, 2011 — Epsilon, the industry’s leading marketing services firm, today announced a new digital marketing capability, Epsilon Digital Receipt™, enabling brands to deliver purchase receipts to consumers via email and combine up sell and cross sell offers with loyalty program and transaction data in real-time."

https://www.cnbc.com/2014/01/23/paper-or-email-pros-and-cons-of-digital-receipts.html
According to a 2012 report from Epsilon International, 83 percent of retailers offering electronic receipts did so to get customers' email addresses. The report says e-receipts have proved "an innovative communications vehicle for retailers that offer limitless marketing possibilities."