CVS Kisses The Paper Receipt Goodbye

CVS Pharmacy has finally heard the many pleas of its customers who took to Twitter after Jimmy Kimmel called out the drugstore chain for its unwieldy receipts.

In a surprise appearance on ABC Network’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” CVS President Helena Foulkes announced the launch of digital receipts, which the company says would soon let the members of its ExtraCare Rewards program collect receipts in their email.

Redditor John Baker in his 12-foot-long Halloween costume.

The program will roll out early next month in select stores and will soon be available at its 7,900 stores across the U.S., Foulkes said. CVS ExtraCare members will have the option to go paper-free for in-store purchases by registering their email address at the point of sale — a one-time process.

New customers and non-members will also have the choice to enroll in the rewards program and register their email address at the POS.

Upon registration, customers will begin to get receipts delivered to them in their inbox, in addition to coupons and rewards. The addition of coupons and rewards to the receipt often made it so long that it became a public favorite of Internet humor.

In 2014, CVS found itself caught in the national news cycle when Redditor John Baker posted a picture of himself dressed on Halloween in a 12-foot-long paper costume resembling an overblown CVS receipt.

Soon, the oversized receipts made their way to the top of Kimmel’s list of things he would change if he were the vice president of the country.

So, when the time came for CVS to make the final push toward digital receipts, the company took the opportunity to make the announcement on the Jimmy Kimmel show.

“We are excited to roll out the much-anticipated launch of digital receipts,” Foulkes said. “We heard loud and clear that while our customers love receiving coupons and special offers, many wanted a paperless option. This feature lets our customers continue to make personalized choices as to how they engage with us and will let our members choose to say, ‘So long!’ to the long paper receipts at checkout.”