Helena Foulkes announces move on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live'

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Pharmacy president Helena Foulkes appeared on ABC-TV’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” to announce that the drug chain is taking action on one of the talk show host’s pet peeves: long paper receipts at checkout.

Foulkes said on Friday night’s show that CVS will enable members of its ExtraCare Rewards program to choose digital receipts. Plans call for the digital receipts option to roll out in early June and eventually become available at all of CVS’ approximately 7,900 stores.

Customers will be able to opt out of receiving paper receipts for all in-store purchases when completing their transactions in the front of the store. Once the one-time process is completed, customers will receive receipts digitally, along with their coupons and rewards, each time they shop at CVS.

Kimmel raised the receipts issue with President Obama in a March 2015 show.

Kimmel has lampooned the length of CVS Pharmacy and ExtraCare Rewards receipts in the past — including a “complaint” to President Barack Obama on his show in March 2015 — and through social media has urged consumers to speak up about long receipts from retailers.

“Well, thanks to you, Jimmy, we knew that our customers were very concerned about the length of our receipts,” Foulkes told Kimmel on his show this past Friday. “And while we’re always worried about the concerns of our customers, when you announced your candidacy for vice president, we took those concerns even more seriously.

“So I’m here tonight to announce that CVS is moving our receipts to be digital,” she said. “And if you’re one of our 70 million ExtraCare members, you’ll be able to sign up, choose digital receipts, and you’ll never receive a paper printout from us again.

“This is starting very soon and, in fact, will be available at all 7,900 CVS locations by the end of June,” Foulkes added.

Once enrolled, ExtraCare members will have all receipts delivered digitally via email, CVS said on Monday. Members will continue to receive exclusive benefits, personalized savings offers, available ExtraBucks Rewards and more, which can be redeemed in store by using a smartphone, tablet or computer and then selecting the “send to card” button next to each offer. All personal preferences are saved for future transactions.

CVS noted that customers will always be able to request a paper copy of their receipt at the time of the transaction.