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Comment by alex_c | Hacker News Reader

I'm not entirely sure I agree with the point about the receipt. I want to be left with a memory of how awesome an experience was, not how much I paid for it. For something like Starbucks, having a stack of receipts that are nice to look at and inform me in a pleasant, easy to read font exactly how much money I'm spending there might make me reconsider my expenses in a hurry. Forgettable receipts might have an advantage after all.

Of course, this is all theory... I would love to see some actual data!

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But luxury meals are enhanced by paying more for them. They are prestige purchases, and "prestige pricing" increases sales, according to data in marketing textbooks. How much you paid becomes a positive part of the experience, and worth remembering.

While I agree with your point, it gets lost when applied to Starbucks. There seems to be a groundswell of people who have suddenly realised that it's totally unreasonable to charge what they charge for a cup of coffee. The sheer ubiquity of Starbucks has also reduced their luxury allure. Might be nice to have a pretty receipt, but as far as Starbucks is concerned, they might want to reduce the font of the price and ensure it smudges easily.

OH yeah, his Starbucks example doesn't really make sense - I was thinking of the architecturally designed home and the $1000 restaurant meal. It's a bit weird how he starts with two compelling luxury data points, then overgeneralizing to... a $6.02 purchase.

I disagree that luxury meals are enhanced by their high price. I eat for the food, and superlative, exquisitely prepared food tends to cost more. Overall experience, most notably accomodating and non-intrusive service, is important as well.

I think a handsome receipt gives a "nice touch" feeling about a restaurant experience; in a similar way, a flimsy receipt may stick out as the only dumpy aspect about a meal.

I'd like some data too!

Anyone own a chain of restaurants? Do you want to implement better receipts and the hardware/infrastructure required? I'll help.

Usually the point-of-sale software, card readers, and receipt printer come as a package, and don't play particularly nicely with 3rd part equipment. You make a good point, but part of the reasoning behind modern receipts (of the kind you hate) is that thermal paper involves the least amount of operator overhead - put in a new roll every so often, no need to worry about separate ink cartridges etc., plus they're fast.

If you want to propose an alternative, I'd start by obtaining a copy of Quicken POS (a common piece of software) and a consumer photo printer, to see how practical it is to print out custom receipts. Then you could look into commercial volume printing solutions and see what sort of budget you'd be looking at.

If there's one company that I would have thought could have pulled it off, it was Apple. I was pretty disappointed when I walked into an Apple Store to find the employees using Windows CE-based handhelds which, of course, printed the same uninspired receipts found everywhere else. I do hear they're trying to replace them with iPod Touch-based systems, but I haven't heard anything about whether or not the receipts themselves will also be upgraded.

I don't, but these guys would be worth talking to:

http://twitter.com/NAKEDpizza

http://www.nakedpizza.biz/

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