Proof of purchase is often required for

sales promotion Sales promotion is one of the elements of the promotional mix. The primary elements in the promotional mix are advertising, personal selling, direct marketing and publicity/public relations. Sales promotion uses both media and non-media marketing ...

s and manufacturer rebates as evidence that the customer purchased the product. When multiple purchases are required to redeem these rewards, it is referred to as a premium incentive or collector mechanic. A proof of purchase is also required for some

product recall "Product Recall" is the twenty-first episode of the third season of the American comedy television series '' The Office'' and the show's forty-ninth episode overall. The series depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton b ...

s. Traditional proof of purchase systems require the consumer to send some portion of the packaging, as defined by the product's manufacturer, along with a register

receipt A receipt (also known as a packing list, packing slip, packaging slip, (delivery) docket, shipping list, delivery list, bill of the parcel, Manifest (transportation), manifest, or customer receipt) is a document acknowledging that something h ...

or sales

invoice An invoice, bill, tab, or bill of costs is a commercial document that includes an itemized list of goods or services furnished by a seller to a buyer relating to a sale transaction, that usually specifies the price and terms of sale, quanti ...

proving the product's purchase, with the latter being required for a product return to a retailer. An internal

confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant (religion), covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. The ceremony typically involves laying on o ...

or tracking number may also be accepted as a proof of purchase, depending on the circumstances. For a defective product such as an

optical disc An optical disc is a flat, usuallyNon-circular optical discs exist for fashion purposes; see shaped compact disc. disc-shaped object that stores information in the form of physical variations on its surface that can be read with the aid o ...

containing a film or musical album, the company will ask for the return of the defective media in order to facilitate an even exchange with one that properly works, or for the box proof and receipt (or often, a cardboard tab with several proofs separately perforated, to not compromise the packaging's integrity) to send back an item (such as a

board game A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the ...

piece or pawn, or guide) inadvertently mispacked without it in the original packaging. Unique codes printed on packaging are increasingly used as a mechanism for proof of purchase. Consumers can submit the code electronically for validation against a central database, thus establishing proof of purchase. Such systems allow manufacturers to develop a direct relationship with the consumer, for use in short term sales promotions, loyalty systems and collection and profiling of consumer data.

References

See also