WTF! RECEIPTS TO BE REPLACED BY EMAILS!

Paper cash-register receipts could be going the way of the rotary phone, eight-track tape and phone booth.

A growing number of merchants are not printing receipts for small transactions or offering customers "paperless receipts" - electronic copies of purchase info sent via email or smart-phone apps.

"I keep receipts in my wallet - there will be more space in my wallet now," said Linda Desmangles, 27, of Brooklyn, who opted for an emailed receipt for the $40 purse and rings she bought at Urban Outfitters in Cobble Hill.

Sears is using Facebook to tout a sweepstakes with $400 gift-card prizes for shoppers who use its digital receipts. Whole Foods is doing test-runs in Maryland and Virginia. Surfwear shop Billabong will offer paperless receipts at its Times Square flagship this summer.

"I wish every retailer would do it. It's environmentally friendly," said Alexis Jones, 25, who had Apple email her receipt for a $1,900 iMac she bought at its Fifth Ave. flagship. The Bronx resident has a file cabinet full of paper receipts from other retailers.

What's driving merchants to go paperless is a dual desire to please customers - and get their emails for personalized marketing pitches.

"Down the road, people will have the opportunity to pay with their mobile phones. They will want electronic receipts," said Richard Mader, executive director of the National Retail Federation's Association for Retail Technology Standards.

In five years, up to 60% of America's retailers will offer paperless receipts, he predicted.

Meanwhile, merchants from tiny takeout joints to mammoth Starbucks are trying to save money by not printing receipts unless customers say they want them.

"The cost of receipt paper is out of sight," said Isaac Lay, CEO of allEtronic, whose paperless-receipt system is being deployed by Billabong.

Due to changes in federal regulations, merchants are no longer required to get signatures for credit card purchases under $25 or provide receipts for debit-card buys of $15 or less.

Dispensing with receipts could make it easier for retailers to cheat customers, consumer advocates warn.

"Consumers should look at these receipts from time to time - it's a good spot-check," said Charles Bell of the Consumers Union. "Obsessive asking for small receipts is probably overkill, though."



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