Why Are CVS Receipts So Amazingly Long?

If you’ve ever shopped at one of the nearly 10,000 CVS Pharmacy locations in the U.S. and belong to the ExtraCare discount program, with its 62 million members, you've likely received a receipt that's more of a scroll than a slip. These long, transactional documents, often measuring several feet and packed with merchandise coupons, are usually crumpled or folded like a towel before being handed over to the customer.

Is this really a sustainable practice? And do these coupons truly bring customers back for more?

CVS explains that the reason behind these massive receipts is to showcase the benefits of being an ExtraCare member, with ExtraCare Rewards often offering a discount on a specific item or purchase. A portion of the receipt is also used to invite participation in a satisfaction survey. (However, it’s unlikely that one of the questions will ask about the receipt's length.)

In simple terms, the chain aims to showcase the perks of being an ExtraCare member, while also benefiting from tracking your purchase patterns. The goal is that the receipt, resembling the length of a Russian novel, will excite customers who feel like they're getting an abundance of savings handed to them.

The issue, however, is that many of these coupons quickly expire or sometimes exclude sale items, leaving customers disheartened when they try to use a $2 coupon on a bar of soap that isn’t eligible.

You can, of course, choose to opt out of receiving a paper receipt through your ExtraCare account, either online or via the app, though it involves a few steps. In that case, the coupons will be sent digitally to your smartphone. Since launching this paperless option in 2016, the company claims to have saved 3 billion inches of paper that would otherwise have been crumpled up and tossed into your glove compartment.

Alternatively, you could always repurpose it to fix a broken window blind.

This leads us to another possible key reason behind those lengthy receipts: Social media buzz. The more people share their frustration with these oversized slips, the more visibility CVS gains. Given their $70 billion merger with Aetna in 2018, some extra attention could certainly come in handy.