Steve on... Till receipts and proof-of-purchase competitions

The humble till receipt is surrounded by much myth and legend in comping circles. Understandable I suppose, given that it’s now the preferred ‘proof of purchase’ for most promoters. It’s obvious to most of us that without a “proper” till receipt a competition entry will fall at the first hurdle. But as well as its role as basic proof that you’ve actually bought the product that you’re supposed to have done, there are some tricks that a comper can use to make a till receipt work in their favour in other ways.

Compers often complain that a till receipt is required at all. After all, back in the halcyon days of comping this was never the case. Tokens or labels always sufficed, and it made our lives much simpler. We didn’t have to visit a particular store, and all of our comping shopping could be done at once without the embarrassment of having to pay in half a dozen separate transactions as an ever-lengthening and increasingly irate queue builds up behind us. But back in the “good old days”, a till receipt wouldn’t have been much use to a promoter as the information on it would have been minimal. Chances are, it wouldn’t even have been itemised. Things are far different these days of course, and the reasons that a promoter asks for a till receipt probably go beyond simply wanting proof that you’ve bought a particular product. Think about a ‘typical’ till receipt. It gives the store name, date of purchase and – of course – a reasonably detailed list of all the products you bought. But in the right hands, it tells the company running a competition much more than that. From looking at the items purchased, a company can tell whether you have children or pets, whether you tend to buy own-brand or premium products, whether you succumb to multisave offers, use coupons, have a credit card…. The list of possibilities is endless, and to one of the many market research companies specialising in this area that are out there, this information is worth its weight in gold. They’d normally have to invest a lot of money and resources to get such a detailed snapshot of someone’s shopping habits, but here they can get it almost for free. Add to all this data the demographic information that you’ve kindly supplied on the entry form and – jackpot! This is why till receipts have become the ‘proof of purchase’ of choice for most promoters these days, and why they usually have to be complete.

So, we’ve determined why promoters love till receipts. The next question must be – what can we, as compers, do to make a till receipt work in our favour? Most of the following suggestions are probably common sense, but you won’t do your chances any harm by trying to stick to them.

Always try to send a ‘realistic’ receipt

By realistic, I mean trying to make sure that it looks like you’re a genuine shopper. A receipt with just one item on it – the product that you needed to buy for the competition – won’t get you disqualified. But it won’t score you any Brownie points either. It could flag you up as a ‘professional’ comper, and any representative from the store who’s on the judging panel might not be too impressed either! So, always try to send in a receipt with at least two or three other products on it – more if possible, and don’t be too concerned about keeping your precious proof of purchase in pristine condition. Typical till receipts get shoved into purses or pockets or are left languishing in the bottom of shopping bags. So there’s really no need to treat yours like a forensic specimen!

Always send a ‘relevant’ receipt

Relevant to the product and the prize. If the comp is on baby food for example, try to get a few other baby products on the receipt as well to ‘prove’ that you really do have a baby (even if you don’t!). If a promoter chooses to run a competition on baby food, then their ‘target’ customer should be obvious. So don’t disappoint them. If a promotion is spread over a range of products, and you choose to enthuse about one product in particular in your tiebreaker, then make sure your receipt is for that particular item. You don’t want to appear disloyal or hypocritical by saying that the promoter’s chicken pie is all you ever eat… and then including a receipt for the steak and kidney variety! If the prize is a family holiday, include a few obvious ‘family’ items on the receipt. Try to send a subliminal message to the promoters – yes, you do have a family and this prize will be appreciated. Don’t alienate a promoter by making it appear that you have only begrudgingly bought their product because you had to. This can sometimes seem the case if a qualifier is at complete odds with other items on a receipt. So if a competition is on cheese, for example, surround the qualifying purchase with cream crackers, pickled onions, chutneys, or that nice new cheeseboard you’ve been promising yourself. This suggests to the promoter that you intend putting their product to good use - as the glorious centrepiece of a veritable banquet no less. And, on the rare occasions these days where you can actually choose your store of purchase, again try to think logically.

A competition run by The Times, for example, might benefit from a Waitrose or Sainsburys receipt. But the judges of a comp on processed peas offering, say, the chance to live in luxury for a weekend, might be more sympathetic to the Asda receipt full of basic and own brand lines. Why should somebody who shops at Waitrose or Harrods win their competition, as they clearly live in relative luxury already!

Always send a ‘rapturous’ receipt

Show the promoter how much you love them and their product. If you’re asked to send a receipt showing one purchase then, cost permitting, make it two or three instead. Try to ensure that their products are at the very top of your receipt, because you subconsciously wanted them so much that you took them out of your trolley first of course! Avoid competitors’ products on the receipt at all costs. This is difficult these days I know since the big multinational companies have their fingers in so many pies, but try to read the small print on products to find out who ‘really’ makes them. Walker’s crisps are owned by Pepsi for example, so always try to avoid putting a can of Coke on any Walkers till receipt. Better still, surround your Walkers crisps purchase with Pepsi, 7Up, and other Walkers snacks.

Time now for an exercise, to put my comments into context. You are a member of a judging panel. Two entries are completely tied together for first prize. The actual entries are now in front of you, complete with till receipts, for you to make a final decision and, at the same time, for you to check that all entry requirements have been met. (A proper audit is essential at this stage in case of problems later.) Both entries are of equal quality, with nothing to choose between them. You look at each entry form, and then the accompanying till receipt. Each receipt shows the necessary proof of purchase and is therefore perfectly valid.

a) You represent the supermarket running the competition. One of the receipts is a foot long, the other shows just one item. Which entry would you prefer to see win?

b) You represent the manufacturer. One receipt shows several items from your product range and those of a sister company, the other just one item and that is sandwiched between two of your main competitor’s brands. Which entry would you prefer?

c) You represent the advertising agency, who have been desperately trying to make the product attractive to young families. One of the receipts includes nappies, kids meals and a comic. The other shows the purchase of a pair of surgical stockings and The Peoples Friend. Which would be your choice?

d) You represent the handling house, which has been running promotions for several clients all with the same prize package that the various winners will take together – a clubbing weekend in Ibiza. One receipt includes a lads mag, trendy deodorant and lager. The other, a copy of the Daily Telegraph and a bottle of milk stout. And your preference would be?

So there you have it. Realistic. Relevant. Rapturous. The Three Rs of TRs.

Try your best to ensure that a till receipt meets these rules, and it won’t do you any harm. I fully appreciate, of course, that we can never know exactly how a competition is going to be judged or administered. Till receipts may simply get a cursory glance from a disinterested clerk in the postroom, and might not even make it to the judges’ table. But the point is, we can never know exactly what will happen once our precious entry is dropped into the post box. So always try to think about little things that, while they might not be guaranteed to bring you success, they certainly won’t work against you. Even if something might only increase your chances by a minuscule percentage, it’s got to be worth a try. Especially if the cost to you in time and money is minimal, if anything at all. It’s often said that “you can’t please everybody all of the time”. But in the wonderful world of comping, you certainly have to try!