Hold On To Your Fast Food Receipt If You Want To Save Money. Here's Why

In 2025, going paperless is increasingly the norm. From monthly e-bills to digital wallets and credit cards, consumers don't actually deal with as much paper in their daily life as they used to. However, that isn't necessarily what consumers would prefer in all areas of life. Chief among the many pieces of paper that consumers are increasingly getting fewer of are receipts. However, despite retailers attempting to push for more digital receipts, consumers still overwhelmingly prefer paper when shopping in person. According to a 2023 survey from the Paper Receipts Converting Association, 72% of respondents reported preferring paper receipts compared to electronic ones.

However, between morning coffees, takeout lunch, grocery stores, errands, and other shopping necessities it can be easy to collect a stack of receipts in the course of the day. This can mean losing track of receipts in places like purses, cars, and even kitchen tables before eventually getting thrown out (although you should twice before throwing your receipts in the trash can). Sidestepping the sustainability element (or lack thereof) of all of that paper waste, there could be some hidden savings in your paper receipts. More specifically, there is one receipt type in particular you might want to pay more attention to before tossing in the trash (or losing in your back seat) and that's your fast food receipt. These receipt types generally include something known as consumer surveys, and these can be a sneaky way to save some extra money.

You've more than likely noticed consumer surveys printed on the bottom of your receipts after eating out at places like McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, or even Outback Steakhouse. These surveys generally offer perks, rewards, and deals in exchange for a review of your specific experience at the store or restaurant in question. While these kinds of surveys might, on the surface, seem like too much work, it's worth noting that one local ABC news team, based in Houston, found that none of these consumer surveys took longer than four minutes to complete (including both online and phone call surveys). They also found a wide range of potential perks in exchange for that four minutes. From free donuts at Dunkin to $5 off at Michael's to a free entrée at Panda Express, receipt surveys can end up being a great way to save money at some of your favorite places.

With all of this in mind, it's important to pay attention to the time limit associated with your specific receipt survey. Many have limits on how long you have to actually take the survey, and many also have limits on how long you have to use the associated perk or reward from taking the survey. ABC News found the deadline for using your reward to be anywhere from 3 to 30 days after completion of the survey. This means it could pay to wait to take your receipt survey until you know you will be visiting a specific retailer or restaurant again in the near future.

At its simplest level, a receipt survey is meant to provide a company with information on anything from employee behavior to cleanliness to store atmosphere. Companies can then use this data to assess if there are things they should consider changing or even how satisfied its customers are with its products or level of service. However, perhaps one of the biggest issues with customer feedback receipt surveys is the general lack of accuracy that companies can expect from the data. For instance, one study from Gartner found that customer feedback collected at the actual point of sale or in store was 40% more accurate than the feedback collected the next day. This can muddy customer feedback data which should make you, as a consumer, wary of any businesses that tout high customer satisfaction ratings. Plus, according to PeoplePulse, the average response rate to customer satisfaction surveys is between 10% and 20%, meaning the data collected is by no means indicative of the majority of a company's customer base.

It's also worth mentioning that while customers might still prefer printed paper receipts, an increasing number of consumers prefer digital options. The Paper Receipts Converting Association found that 25% of consumers preferred digital receipts (whether by email or text). As paper receipts decline, companies will have to find more innovative ways to potentially capture customer feedback (although many larger companies now rely on data brokers to procure extensive customer data), which could spell the end of the receipt survey reward altogether.