Receipt scanning technology has become an essential tool for loyalty programs, allowing businesses to gain first-party customer data efficiently. In this article, we'll explore how receipt scanning software can enhance customer experiences and drive sales.

What is receipt scanning?

Receipt scanning software is an innovative method for data acquisition, enabling businesses to capture detailed purchase information from customer receipts. This technology provides deeper insights into consumer behavior, optimizing loyalty programs by leveraging the data collected.

Integrating receipt scanning into loyalty initiatives empowers brands to reward customers for their purchases, fostering engagement and offering personalized incentives. While some businesses seamlessly implement loyalty programs at points of sale, others face challenges, especially those distributing products through third-party retailers. In such cases, receipt scanning becomes a valuable solution to bridge the gap.

The Benefits of Receipt Scanning for Businesses

For brands eager to capture more customer data for their loyalty programs, every detail—from the time of purchase to the cashier serving the customer—can be beneficial. Receipt scanning is an ideal solution for businesses with fragmented sales channels, providing access to essential data that informs marketing strategies.

Here’s how receipt scanning software can work for your business…

How does receipt scanning software work?

Receipt scanning software operates through sophisticated OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology embedded within loyalty apps. When a customer makes a purchase, they can simply capture an image of their receipt using the app. 

The OCR technology then swiftly extracts pertinent data from the receipt, such as purchase amount, items bought, and store details. This extracted data is instantly utilized to credit loyalty points to the customer's account based on the predefined program parameters. 

This seamless process enables brands to effortlessly implement and manage loyalty programs, irrespective of their distribution channels. The AI-powered system adapts to recognize products regardless of the store, enabling even brands with complex distribution networks to leverage receipt scanning for comprehensive data capture. 

High-quality receipt scanning solutions, like those offered by White Label Loyalty, excel in capturing intricate details from receipts, delivering a competitive edge through comprehensive data acquisition.

Did you know? Receipt scanning tools can give you insight into your customer's entire basket. Receipt scanning provides invaluable insights beyond transactions. For instance, businesses can learn which competitor products customers bought alongside their products, as well as customer segments based on purchasing habits. This information can be instrumental in refining marketing strategies.

Reliable & secure

Now of course, your customers likely buy other products along with yours when they shop. Fear not, this is not a problem but an opportunity! You can configure our loyalty platform to only reward customers for purchasing your products. However, with the receipts scanned in your loyalty app, you gain additional invaluable insight. 

For example, you might find out which competitor products customers bought along with your products. Moreover, you may find a certain segment of customers based on which stores they buy at or on which days of the week. All this information can be used to further drive your marketing strategies.

Are receipt scanning programs accurate?

If you’re worried about accuracy or fraud, that’s something we’ve taken care of. When a customer scans their receipt using our technology, the app will send it to a manual reviewer if anything is unclear or if the purchase is unusually large. 

Plus there is an option of spot-checking randomly by a manual reviewer to make sure everything is accurate. All this and more makes our software for receipt scanning accurate and protected against fraud.

What can receipt scanning software do for your business?

Once you have receipt scanning software set up, how can it benefit you? Firstly, you can increase brand loyalty even if you sell through third-parties. It gives you control over your loyalty program. 

You won’t have to depend on retailers or wholesalers to set one up, and you won’t need to integrate with unfamiliar POS systems. Find out more about our brand loyalty specific solution here.

Then there’s the data you can collect. What time of day are your customers purchasing your product? Do they typically buy it on its own, or as part of a larger shop? Which merchants do they buy it from? 

All this information - and more - is available through receipt scanning. Anything that’s included on a receipt can be picked up and used to better understand your customers.

Receipt scanning app for businesses

All this allows you to supercharge your loyalty program. Our receipt scanning solution is fast, accurate, and flexible, letting you pick up practically any data from any receipt. White Label Loyalty’s receipt scanning API has been used by brands across the globe - book a demo with us to see how we can help your business. 
 

What kind of use cases are best for receipt scanning data capture?

Receipt scanning is suitable for any brand that wants to capture its customer's full transaction data. This is especially useful for businesses that sell through third-party retailers, as it allows a brand to collect data about end-customers without relying on information from somebody else. 

Receipt scanning is also perfect for businesses like restaurants and retailers who often print receipts for their customers. 

But what if the receipts have an unusual layout?

Our receipt scanning software is flexible enough to read the data from any kind of receipt or invoice. Using comprehensive machine vision, the receipt scanning technology can easily and quickly extract information from any kind of receipt, even ones with unconventional layouts. 
 

How quickly does receipt scanning technology extract transactional data?

One of the key benefits of receipt scanning is that it is fast and accurate. Our system can quickly detect a receipt’s layout and use the appropriate mapping tools to find the data you need without making you wait. 

Receipt scanning rewards programs: case studies of receipt scanning loyalty programs

Receipt scanning software for restaurants and retail
 

Take a look at our case study for Burger King EMEA, which used our receipt scanning API to create a loyalty app solution. Our receipt scanning system analyzed the different receipt layouts of Burger King Switzerland to extract transactional data.

To capture data for its campaigns, PepsiCo chose White Label Loyalty's receipt scanning system. Customers who purchase selected PepsiCo products from associated brands upload their receipts using our intelligent data scanning technology, which allowed PepsiCo to run a wide range of campaigns whilst tracking customer purchases.

Receipt scanning software for B2B and manufacturers
 

Our receipt scanning technology was used to create a B2B solution for Wavin, connecting them directly to their end consumers. Wavin’s app for receipt scanning allows the brand to reward customers for buying Wavin products no matter which retailer they purchase from. 

In the manufacturing industry? Check out how manufacturing giant ArdexBal uses White Label Loyalty's receipt scanning software to instantly reward installers for choosing them. 
 

Are there any disadvantages of using receipt scanning for business?
 

As with anything, there are some downsides to using receipt scanning data capture. Firstly, it is not as seamless for the end-user compared to alternatives like card-linking. With receipt scanning technology, the customer needs to manually take a photo of their receipt (or forward an invoice email). 

This means that there is an extra step in which your customers will need to be proactive. On the other hand, card linking simply requires a customer to connect their card once and they will automatically get rewarded each time they make a purchase with that card. To find out more about card linking, check out our information here.
 

As a result, receipt scanning can be more prone to error. To get around this, you need a good receipt scanning tech provider. Your receipt scanning provider must have fraud protection in place. Sometimes a customer’s submitted photo isn’t clear enough - in these cases, the image will go into manual review (to ensure there are no attempts at fraudulent activity). 

This means that the receipt scanning won’t be instantly rewarded, as manual scanning takes more time. Despite this, we find that most customers find receipt scanning for rewards very easy. If you’re after something a bit more seamless and frictionless from a customer point of view, look into card-linking data capture. 
 

Want to know if receipt scanning is the right solution for your business? Interested to know more about how receipt scanning works? Book a demo below and we’ll show you. 

FAQ Section
 

1. What is receipt scanning software?
Receipt scanning software allows businesses to capture and analyze data from customer receipts using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology, providing insights into consumer behavior.
 

2. How does receipt scanning benefit loyalty programs?
By simplifying the process of earning rewards and capturing valuable purchase data, receipt scanning enhances customer engagement and helps brands tailor their marketing strategies.
 

3. What types of businesses benefit most from receipt scanning?
Receipt scanning is particularly useful for brands selling through third-party retailers and businesses like restaurants that frequently issue customer receipts.
 

4. Is receipt scanning technology accurate?
Yes, high-quality receipt scanning solutions include manual review processes to ensure accuracy and prevent fraud, providing reliable data for businesses.
 

5. Are there downsides to using receipt scanning?
The primary downsides include the additional step required from customers to scan receipts and potential user error. Partnering with a reputable provider can mitigate these issues.