50% of Brits will need a receipt to return or exchange a Christmas present this year, but the vast majority will not be able to due to missing or discarded paper receipts, according to research conducted by banking app Flux.
Flux say that although shoppers know how often they need paper receipts, they are more likely to lose them than use them, with over a third of respondents saying they bin them immediately after receiving one.
They surveyed over 1000 shoppers about their receipt habits, also revealed Britain’s best and worst gifters, highlighting the stores and cities where the most receipts are needed to return gifts.
While M&S and John Lewis may be well known for being kings of the Christmas advert, their shoppers are the most likely to need a receipt to return gifts with 62% and 60.9% of respondents admitting this respectively. The least likely to return their gifts are those who shop at Asda (55%).
Flux argue the reason Christmas becomes such a difficult part of the year for people trying to return or exchange items could be down to our everyday habits around receipts.
They found less than a quarter (24%) of Brits use a receipt more than once a month, whilst a third (33%) of respondents said they never use paper receipts after purchase.
A further 37% said they throw most of their paper receipts away immediately after purchase, while 17% religiously throw away every receipt they’re given.
Flux founder Matty Cusden-Ross said: ‘The research we have done shows that paper receipts are unreliable and wasteful, especially at Christmas.
‘To add to that data from Eaternity.org estimate that receipts generate around 2.5kg CO2eq / kg in CO2 emissions. That’s the equivalent in emissions of about 21km driven in a car.’