Summary

Extending Loyalty Programs: The Receipt Scanning feature enables you to expand your loyalty programs to include in-store purchases. This encourages loyalty members to earn points and rewards from online transactions and in-store shopping activities.

Data Gathering: By capturing data on in-store purchase behavior and preferences, Annex Cloud provides you with valuable insights into your customers' offline interactions. This data can be used to create more personalized promotions and make informed business decisions.

Receipt Scanning Process: Loyalty members initiate the process by taking a photo of the in-store receipt. They then upload this photo to the loyalty account for scanning. The system processes the purchase data from the receipts using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology.

Automation with OCR: OCR technology automates the extraction of text from images, in this case, text from receipts. This automated approach reduces the need for manual intervention and moderation of receipts. It makes the process more efficient and less time-consuming.

SMS/ WhatsApp Input Method: This feature allows loyalty members to submit receipts via a unique phone number (generated via Twilio). The receipt is then filtered and verified in the database, and once confirmed, points are awarded.

Rewards and Configuration: Once the purchase data is extracted and processed through the Order API, loyalty members receive rewards based on the configuration of the loyalty program. This allows brands to customize the reward structure to align with the specific objectives and strategies.

Receipt Scanning Process Overview

1. You will begin by configuring the settings for receipt scanning to meet your business needs. To configure these settings, log into the admin dashboard of the Annex Cloud platform. Navigate to the Products tab. Under the Products tab, find and click Go under the Receipts module. For details on each step of receipt scanning configuration click here.
2. Next, you will establish the product and retailer data that will be collected from members' receipts.
   1. Navigate to the Reports tab. Under the Reports tab, find and click Go under the Receipts module. Then select the Retailers Report. Here you will add the list of retailers that sell the brand’s products and may appear on members' receipts. If a retailer is not listed here and appears on a receipt uploaded by a member, the receipt will not be automatically approved. Add all possible retailers to this report. For more information on adding retailers, click here.
   2. Next within Receipt Reports, you will navigate to the Products Report. This report acts as a database containing the list of products that should be identified on receipts before calling the Annex Cloud Order API to award members points. It means, that if a product is included in this list and appears on a receipt it will be included in the order data that is sent to the Order API. If a product is not listed here, it will be excluded from the order when the data is sent to the Order API. For more information about adding products to the Products Report, click here.
   3. Once all settings, retailers, and products have been configured, the Receipts page will function as expected on the members' loyalty account dashboard. Members will submit their receipts by uploading an image of their receipt on the Receipts page of their loyalty account dashboard.
      

If the settings, retailers, and products are not configured, the Receipt Upload Page will still appear to members if it has been configured by the Implementation team. However, it will not behave as expected. Please ensure the settings, retailers, and products are established during implementation to avoid unexpected behavior.

4. If you have elected to utilize the OCR technology, the uploaded receipt will be read by the OCR technology. If it meets the confidence threshold you’ve established, the receipt will be marked as Automated and the order data from the receipt will be sent to the Order API and the member will be awarded points based on the configuration of your loyalty program. If the receipt did not meet the confidence threshold, or if you have elected not to utilize the OCR technology, the order data will not be sent to the Order API and the receipt will be marked as Moderation, Pending, and will go through the human verification process. To find the status of a receipt and review receipts that require human verification, head to the Moderation Report. Navigate to the Reports tab. Under the Reports tab, find and click Go under the Receipts module. Select the Moderation Report. For more information on reviewing uploaded receipts, click here.
5. Lastly, administrators can review the products that have been purchased on receipts by navigating to the Purchase Data Report within Receipt Reports. To learn more about the data collected in this report, click here.

Receipt Scanning Settings in the Annex Cloud Platform

Receipt Scanning Configuration

• Log in to the admin dashboard of the Annex Cloud platform.
• Navigate to the Products tab.
• Under the Products tab, find and click Go under the Receipts module.
  

OCR Settings

You will be brought to the Receipt Configuration dashboard. On the first tab, labeled OCR you will see three settings for you to configure. OCR stands for Optical Character Recognition, a technology that recognizes text within a digital image.

Automation Percentage

You will see a slider available for you to establish the percentage of receipts that will be Automated.

If you drag the slider to any percent above zero, you have decided to utilize the OCR technology to automate part of the receipt scanning process.

• If you drag the slider to 100% Automated, all receipts uploaded by customers will go to the OCR. Those that do not meet the confidence threshold will then be sent for human verification to be approved.
• If another percentage is selected, the selected percent of receipts will be sent to the OCR for reading, and the remaining percentage will be sent for human verification.
  Examples: 
  If you set the slider to 50%, half of all receipts will be sent to the OCR for reading and the other half will go straight to human verification. Meaning, when one receipt is uploaded, it will go to the OCR, the next will go to human verification, then the next will go to the OCR and so on and so forth. Within the 50% of tickets sent to the OCR, any that do not meet the confidence threshold will then be sent for human verification as well.
  If the slider is set to 60%, then 60% of all receipts will be sent to the OCR for reading and 40% will go straight to human verification. Meaning, if 100 receipts are uploaded, 60 of those receipts will go to the OCR and 40 will go to human verification. Within the 60 receipts sent to the OCR, any that do not meet the confidence threshold will then be sent for human verification as well.

Note: We recommend starting with 50% Automated. As the OCR is used more and more, the AI will learn and become more accurate. After some time, the setting can be changed to 100% Automated.

Confidence Threshold

If you drag the slider to any percent above zero, you have decided to utilize the OCR technology to automate part of the receipt scanning process. If you make this selection, you will need to configure a Confidence Threshold.

• This setting determines the confidence level required from the OCR technology when reading and processing receipts. Receipts with confidence scores below this threshold are sent for human verification.
• The recommended range is 0.7 to 1. This means receipts with a confidence score of 0.7 or higher are automatically approved, while those below 0.7 require human verification.

Enforce Human Approval for Automated Receipts

• If this switch is turned to ON, then any receipts that have been processed and approved by the OCR by meeting the confidence threshold will still require final human approval before points are awarded to members for their purchases. 
• This setting serves as an additional layer of quality control to ensure the accuracy of the OCR technology’s results.

Disregard Purchase Hold Period

• When this switch is turned ON, it ensures that points are awarded immediately for all receipts, with no hold period. By default, the toggle switch is turned OFF.
• Points are awarded as follows:
  • The hold points for other components such as Campaigns, Actions, Action Series, etc. are not considered.
  • For example, if an order is created against a receipt uploaded by a member, a campaign is enabled at that time which includes a purchase milestone, and the campaign benefit is awarded to the member. However, if the campaign benefit type includes hold points, then those hold points are discarded, and then the campaign benefits are instantly awarded to the member along with the points for the approved receipt. Similarly, hold points are discarded for all the other components.
  • The updated points are reflected in the Interaction Report, Orders Report, Moderation Report, Receipt Report, and Points Report.

Enable receipt sms submission: When this flag is turned ON, an additional tab for SMS settings appears at the top, allowing you to configure the SMS notification settings. For more information, refer to the link

Email Notification

Click Next to move to the Email Notification tab. This tab is where you can configure the emails members will receive after they’ve uploaded a receipt.

Sender Information

• In the From Name field, enter the name from which the email will appear to members.
• In the From Email field, enter the email address from which the email will appear to members.

This will be the sender's information for all email notifications.

Receipt Received Email

• In the Receipt Received Email Subject field, enter the subject line for the email members receive when the brand receives their receipt. For example, the administrator can use a subject like, “Receipt Received Confirmation”.
• In the Receipt Received Email Body field, compose the email copy that informs the member that their receipt has been received and is pending approval. Administrators can use specific fonts, headings, and writing structures to design the email as they see fit.

Receipt Approved Email

• In the Receipt Approved Email Subject field, enter the subject line for the email members receive when their receipt has been approved. For example, the administrator can use a subject like, “Receipt Approved”.
• Compose the email copy for the Receipt Approved Email Body, letting members know that their receipt has been approved.

Receipt Rejected Email

• In the Receipt Rejected Email Subject field, enter the subject line for the email members receive when their receipt has been rejected. For example, the administrator can use a subject like, “Receipt Rejected”.
• Compose the email copy for the Receipt Rejected Email Body, explaining why the receipt was rejected and any necessary instructions.

Note: Administrators can use the available hash codes like #firstName#, and #lastName# when configuring the email body to ensure the member’s information auto-fills upon sending.

Upload Widget

Click Next to move to the Upload Widget tab. This tab is where you can configure the front-end settings that members will see when uploading receipts on their loyalty dashboard.

Click Next to move to the Upload Widget tab. This tab is where you can configure the front-end settings that members will see when uploading receipts on their loyalty dashboard.

• Widget Type: Define the type of widget you want to use, either Inline or Popup. (Required Field)
• Widget Name: Give the widget a name for reference within the Annex Cloud platform. (Required Field)
• Upload Button Image URL: Add the URL of the image you’d like to use for the upload button. This button allows the member to upload their receipts. Ensure the image is appropriately sized and accessible to users. (Required Field)
• Upload Page Content: Enter the source code used for the front end of the Upload Page. This is the page members will go to on their loyalty dashboard to upload their receipts for review. (Required Field)
• Thank You Page Content: Enter the source code used for the front end of the Thank You page. This is the page members will see after successfully uploading their receipt. (Required Field)
• Click Submit to confirm the configurations.

After configuring the Upload Widget, it will appear in a table on the Upload Widget tab.

The table will provide the following information and actions:

Widget ID: The unique ID assigned to the widget is displayed in this column.

Widget Name: Displays the name of the widget.

Widget Type: Displays the type of widget, inline, or popup.

Edit: There are two icons available in this tab.

• Delete icon: The widget can be deleted by clicking the Delete icon.
  

Select Delete to confirm the process of deletion.

• Edit icon: The information widget configuration can be edited.

If Edit is selected, the Edit Upload Widget window appears.

• Widget Type: Update the type of widget you want to use, either Inline or Popup. (Required Field)
• Widget Name: Update the widget with a name for reference within the Annex Cloud platform. (Required Field)
• Upload Button Image URL: Update the URL of the image you’d like to use for the upload button. This button allows the member to upload their receipts. Ensure the image is appropriately sized and accessible to users. (Required Field)
• Upload Page Content: Update the source code used for the front end of the Upload Page. This is the page members will go to on their loyalty dashboard to upload their receipts for review. (Required Field)
• Thank You Page Content: Update the source code used for the front end of the Thank You page. This is the page members will see after successfully uploading their receipt. (Required Field)
• Preview: Administrators can preview the Upload Page and Thank You Page they’ve configured.
• Click Submit to confirm the updated configurations.

SMS Settings

In this section, you can customize details such as the phone number to which the receipt will be sent, notification limits, and messages for acceptance and rejection. Once a member submits their receipt, they will be informed whether the receipt has been accepted or rejected. If the receipt is accepted, points will be awarded to the member’s account.

You have the following options to customize the SMS and WhatsApp notifications that members will receive:

1. SMS Submission Number: Enter the phone number that will receive receipt messages from members. The phone number can be generated by the business on Twilio, or it can be generated by Annex Cloud on behalf of the business.
2. SMS notification limit per user per day: Specify the maximum number of messages a member can send in a single day. A member cannot exceed this limit.
3. Receipt Received SMS Body: Enter the message that the member will receive after submitting the receipt via SMS or WhatsApp. For example, “The receipt has been submitted successfully.”. You can customize this message to suit your needs.
4. Receipt Approval SMS Body: Enter the message that the member will receive once the receipt is approved by the approver. For example, “The receipt has been approved.”.
5. Receipt Rejection SMS Body: Enter the message that the member will receive if the receipt is rejected by the approver. For example, “The receipt has been rejected.”.

Access to Receipt Module

Access to the Receipt Module is given using the Role Management feature in the Users tab. Access is given by the super admin to program administrators according to the role of the user.

• Log in to the admin dashboard of the Annex Cloud platform.
• Navigate to the Users tab.
• Select Role Management to get the list of user roles.
  

Choose the role you want to modify Receipt access for from the list and click the Settings icon under the Actions tab to open the list of modules available for modification of access.

View Access, Write Access, and Export Access for Receipts can be modified in the Products tab.

View Access: Access to view can be modified by this toggle button. If the toggle button is ON, then the users belonging to the selected role can view the module. If the toggle button is OFF, then no other access can be provided for this module for the users belonging to the selected role.

Write Access: Access to edit can be modified by this toggle button. If the toggle button is ON, then the users belonging to the selected role can edit the module. If the toggle button is OFF, the users belonging to the selected role can only view this module but cannot edit any information.

Export Access: Access to export the content of the module in Excel format to the user's system can be modified by this toggle button. If the toggle button is ON then the Excel file can be exported to the user’s system. If the toggle button is OFF then users cannot export the content from the module.

Note: If the View Access toggle is set to OFF, no other access can be given to the user regarding the module.
Audit: Shows the history of access changes for the selected module.

1. Date: Displays the date when the administrator modified access.
2. User Details: Displays the name and email address of the administrator who modified the access.
3. Event Details: Displays the description of which access was modified.
4. Old: Displays the description of which access previously existed in the configuration before the change was made.
5. New: Displays the description of the updated access.
6. Source: Displays the administrator’s IP address.

For Example:

A user role is provided with View Access only for the Receipts module.

The submit button will not be available for users to save any changes.