‘Too much’: Shopper’s fury over viral Woolies receipt

A shopper has ignited a heated debate over a receipt, but the supermarket has explained that there’s a simple solution.

A frustrated customer has taken to social media after receiving an excessively long Woolworths receipt after buying just nine items.

A Reddit post on the r/Woolworths subreddit titled ‘WTF Woolworths’, went viral after a shopper shared a photo of their receipt, outlining the section taken up by the actual transaction details and comparing it to the overwhelming amount of promotional material printed beneath it.

“Receipt”, they wrote next to the list of itemised products.

“Some other bulls**t,” they captioned the rest of the receipt, which they guessed was about “half a metre long”.

A shopper has shared a photo of an excessively long receipt they received after shopping at Woolworths. Picture: Reddit

Part of the receipt mentions the customer “could have collected 40 Everyday Rewards points” and encourages them to sign up for the supermarket’s loyalty program by scanning a QR code.

The receipt also includes promotional offers for BWS, Woolworths’ liquor store chain, and Ampol petrol stations.

At the bottom, there is messaging about Cubeez, the Minecraft Collectable available at Woolworths.

The shopper expressed confusion about why the receipt needed to be so long and “wasteful” if the top of the receipt included “all the information I need”.

They showed little interest in receiving the promotional information as they said they rarely shop at Woolworths.

The shopper bought just nine items but the receipt was about half a metre long. Picture: news.com.au

Commenters were equally as annoyed, with one person saying, “This is too much,” as someone else declared, “RIP trees”.

Another said it “ground their gears”, while a different Redditor wrote that it felt like they were being “spammed” with information every time they shopped.

Then one user quipped, “It’s not on the consumer to ‘save paper’, it should be on Woolies in this scenario.

“There is absolutely no reason this much paper needs to be wasted per customer.”

One user then admitted they just “leave the receipt in the machine in protest”.

And one check-out operator admitted, “We know (it’s long). We have to watch it print and get a shock every time”.

A spokesperson for Woolworths told news.com.au that shoppers can opt to receive e-receipts instead of physical ones on its Rewards App.

Customers can also decline a receipt at the checkout.

“An increasing number of customers are choosing to do away with paper receipts altogether in favour of digital eReceipts available via the Everyday Rewards app with individual customers saving an average of 13 metres of paper every year,” the spokesperson said.

eReceipts were launched in June 2021, allowing Everyday Rewards customers to opt out of paper copies by changing their preferences on the app.

It can be used exactly like a traditional paper receipt. All customers have to do is scan their Everyday Rewards card at the checkout to get one.

Woolworths told news.com.au that customers can opt to receive e-receipts. Picture: Supplied

However, people argued that signing up to an app shouldn’t be the only solution to combating excessive paper.

“Perhaps unpopular opinion: I shouldn’t have to download an app, sign up for a rewards program and scan a card to get a reasonable receipt. They should just print the small receipt,” one person replied.

Another shopper theorised, “It may all be intentional. Making the receipt foolishly long makes the app more appealing by comparison.

“The app gives Woolies data on you and what you buy. With a receipt they don’t know who is buying what. There is no other good reason to provide a two-foot-long bomb you can’t comfortably stick anywhere.”

Originally published as ‘Too much’: Shopper’s fury over viral Woolies receipt