Do you want to launch a promotion where users need to upload a photo of their receipt or proof of purchase to participate? In order to facilitate the verification of the validity of the receipts uploaded by clients, the promotion administrator can enable the AI-powered purchase receipt validation, a system that allows automatic verification of the receipt's validity through artificial intelligence.

In this way, through the technology provided by artificial intelligence, the system is able to review the content of the uploaded purchase receipt image to check that it meets the conditions or rules that it must fulfill to be valid. For example, the receipt being of a minimum purchase amount, from a specific store, etc.

What you need to know before you start:

• AI receipt validation is only available for promotions created in the White Label version.
• AI receipt validation works with the purchase of AI-Validation packages system. The administrator must purchase AI validations in order to analyze and validate the receipts uploaded by users. Click here to see the prices of the different AI-validation packages that can be purchased. 
• To allow the administrator to discover how the AI receipt validation works, we offer 50 free validations to test the system without any commitment.

Step-by-step instructions

1. Introduction

2. Configuring the receipt validation conditions

   • 2.1. How does the AI-powered purchase receipt validation process work?

   • 2.2. Mandatory conditions

   • 2.3. Promotion-specific conditions

     • Condition the validation based on total amount of the receipt

     • Condition based on the receipt date

     • Condition based on the store information

     • Condition based on the Location

     • Condition based on the presence of an article

     • Minimum quantity of article condition

     • Minimum article amount condition

3. Receipt tags management

   • 3.1. What are receipt tags?

   • 3.2. What types of receipt tags can be created?

   • 3.3. How to create receipt tags?

4. Manual review of the receipts uploaded

5. Prize allocation system

6. How to view and download clients' receipts

7. Video instructions with practical setup examples

   1. For brands: Raffle prizes among all purchase receipts containing products from a brand

   2. For stores: Spin the prize wheel for every $20 of purchase from the last month at a chain of stores

   3. For shopping centers: Raffle prizes among the purchase receipts from any store participating in the promotion

1. Introduction

Easypromos' AI-powered purchase receipt validation system allows you to organize a promotion where users must upload a purchase receipt to participate and potentially win a prize or reward.

This system works by combining artificial intelligence with OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology to recognize text in images. This combination allows the system to read the information contained in the picture of the purchase receipt that the client uploads, to verify its validity.

One of the main advantages of the AI-powered receipt validation system is that, for each uploaded receipt, the system can provide the receipt text and information in a structured and organized manner. This allows the administrator to apply conditions or rules based on the receipt information, which means the system offers great flexibility and provides the administrator with a range of possibilities to adjust the configuration to the specific needs of each campaign.

Thus, the automatic AI-powered receipt validation addresses the three most common scenarios:

• Scenario 1 - Brand / Manufacturer: A brand or manufacturer organizes a campaign to reward customers who buy their products through a raffle. To participate, users must upload a photo of a purchase receipt from any store that contains one of the brand's products. The administrator can configure the rules to validate the receipts, such as a minimum amount or the purchase of a specific item. Once the receipts are validated, prizes will be raffled among all participants who meet the requirements.
• Scenario 2 - Store / Distributor / Retailer: A supermarket organizes a promotional campaign during a specific period for customers who make a purchase over $20. The customer must upload a photo of the purchase receipt showing the store's name, correct dates, and total amount. Additionally, the administrator could specify that for every $20 purchase, the customer earns an additional entry into a raffle or prize wheel.
• Scenario 3 - Shopping Center or business association with a joint promotion: Several stores within a shopping center or group participate in a promotion where customers can win prizes by shopping at any of the participating stores. To participate, the customer must upload a photo of the purchase receipt from any of the stores involved in the campaign. To ensure the validity of the uploaded receipts, rules can be established to validate the stores on the purchase receipts.

The automatic purchase receipt validation with AI offers the following features:

• It works as a participation requirement in the promotion, which the administrator can enable for each new promotion they organize. This means that AI-powered receipt validation can be implemented across all of Easypromos' dynamics (Prize Wheel, Games, Quizzes, Surveys, etc).
•  To consider a purchase receipt as valid, the system applies a set of validations to verify the receipt information. This ensures that the receipt meets the necessary conditions to be validated. There are two types of conditions:
  • • Mandatory conditions, applied by the system by default to control fraud attempts in the promotion: detection of unique receipts, detection of mandatory values in the receipt (store, amount, and date), etc.
    • Promotion-specific conditions, defined by the administrator based on the characteristics and needs of each campaign: minimum amount of the receipt, presence of a specific store, presence of a specific article or product, etc.
• To configure the validation conditions, the receipt tags tool is provided, a system that allows the administrator to create an internal dictionary with word rules to be used to verify the validity of the receipts. This way, when a user uploads a receipt to the promotion, the validation system will analyze the receipt and indicate the tags detected in the image. Three types of tags can be created:
  • • Store Tag: Allows the creation of a list of key workds which will include the different stores names.
    • Location Tag: Allows the creation of a dictionary listing the different cities or locations that will appear in the receipts the customers will upload.
    • Article Tag: Allows the creation of a list with the different products that the receipts should include to be considered as valid.
• The administrator has the Manual Receipt Review tool, a console where they can review receipts that have, for some reason, not been considered valid by the system. This tool allows three actions:
  • 1. Review the receipt and mark it as accepted or rejected.
    2. Correct the information detected by AI, in case there are possible errors in the automatic reading of the information. Example: The total amount was not detected correctly, and the receipt did not pass the "minimum amount" condition. The reviewer detects the error and corrects the amount to validate the receipt.
    3. Expand the detection of receipt tags. Example: add an item tag when detecting that a variation of the product name was not considered in the initial Item Tag configuration.
• The structured information of the purchase receipts is available via API and Webhooks, and can also be downloaded as a .CSV file.

In this article, we explain in detail how to configure AI-powered receipt validation, from defining validation conditions, creating and managing receipt tags, and how to review receipts that were not automatically validated. Additionally, you will learn how to assign prizes depending on the receipts uploaded by users and how to obtain and exploit the structured information from the receipts.

2. Configuring the receipt validation conditions

To validate the purchase receipts uploaded by users, the participation requirement "AI-Powered purchase receipt validation" must be enabled.

To do this, follow the steps described below.

1. Access the Editor > Pages > Participation > Requirements and enable the following participation requirement:

Once the receipt validation with AI is activated, the administrator must purchase an AI Validation package so that the system can analyze and validate the receipts uploaded by users. However, before purchasing a validation package, the system offers 50 free validations that the administrator can activate here: 

Once the 50 free validations are used up, the administrator must purchase an AI Validation package to ensure proper functionality of the receipt validation once the promotion is launched.

The next step is to configure the validation conditions, which the system will use to verify the content of the uploaded purchase receipt and determine if it is valid or not.

 

2.1. How does the AI-powered purchased receipt validation process work?

To consider a purchase receipt as valid, the system will apply a set of validations to verify the receipt information. This allows the system to check whether it meets the necessary conditions to be validated.

There are two types of conditions:

• Mandatory conditions, which are applied by the system by default.
• Promotion-specific conditions, defined by the administrator based on the characteristics and needs of each campaign.

In this way, for the system to consider the receipt valid, it must meet both the mandatory conditions and the promotion-specific conditions.

Thus, when a user uploads an image of a purchase receipt, the receipt validation process with AI begins, and the flow is as follows:

1. Requirement Screen. The user selects the image of the purchase receipt and crops it to correctly frame the receipt and purchase information.
2. Receipt Processing. The system processes the image uploaded by the user. This process may take between 10 and 60 seconds.
3. Review of mandatory conditions. Next, the system checks if the purchase receipt meets the 7 mandatory conditions of the system. Two situations can occur:
   • If the mandatory conditions are not met, the receipt will be rejected, and the user will see an error message on the screen indicating the reason and will be instructed to upload a new receipt to participate.
   • If the mandatory conditions are met, the system will continue the receipt validation process by evaluating the promotion-specific conditions set by the administrator.
4. Review of promotion-specific conditions. If the receipt passes the mandatory conditions review, the system will then begin the review of the promotion-specific conditions. Two situations can occur:
   • If the promotion-specific conditions are not met, the receipt status will be marked as pending, and the user will need to write feedback or an explanation of why they believe the receipt should be considered valid. The promotion administrator will have a console to view the pending receipts and will have tools to reject, correct the information detected by the AI (in case of a detection error), and validate the receipt if deemed necessary.
   • If the promotion-specific conditions are met, the receipt will be automatically validated, and the user can continue with the promotion participation process.

Below, we show in the following diagram how the receipt validation process works:

2.2. Mandatory conditions

To ensure the validity of the purchase receipts uploaded by users, the AI receipt validation system has a set of security controls aimed at ensuring that the receipt meets the necessary conditions to be considered valid.

In this way, when a user uploads a purchase receipt to the promotion, it will first undergo an evaluation by the system, where the mandatory conditions that the receipt must meet to be validated will be checked. These mandatory conditions are common in any promotion created on the platform and cannot be changed or canceled, with the aim of providing the administrator with an initial layer of security to ensure that the receipts uploaded by users meet the minimum conditions.

Below, we list the 7 mandatory conditions that any receipt uploaded to the platform must meet. 

1. The image must not have been uploaded previously: The system does not allow the same image file to be uploaded more than once. If a duplicate file is detected, the receipt will be rejected.
2. The image must contain the name of the store: The name of the store, business, or establishment must always appear on the receipt, and it must be clearly visible in the image. If the name of the store is not detected, the receipt will be rejected.
3. The image must contain the date: The date must always appear on the receipt, and it must be clearly visible in the image. If the date is not detected, the receipt will be rejected.
4. The image must contain the total amount: The total amount must always appear on the receipt, and it must be clearly visible in the image. If the total amount is not detected, the receipt will be rejected.
5. The receipt must be unique: The system checks that the receipt is unique based on the combination of the following four values: date, store, total amount, and promotion. If a different photo of the same receipt is detected, the receipt will be rejected.
6. The receipt must be unique for a user: The system does not allow the same user to upload two receipts with the same exact date and time.  
7. The receipt must not be manipulated: The system will verify that the receipt is printed, without handwritten text, and has not been manipulated or altered in any way.

2.3. Promotion-specific conditions

As mentioned in the previous section, if the purchase receipt uploaded by the user meets the mandatory conditions, the system will begin the validation of the specific validation conditions of the promotion. These are the rules configured by the promotion administrator based on the campaign's circumstances and the data that needs to be validated in the receipts or proof of purchase.

Below, we list the specific conditions of the promotion that the administrator can configure:

Condition based on the total amount of the receipt

When enabling this condition, the validation system will check if the amount of the receipt meets the minimum amount set in the validation condition.

Practical Example: Only receipts with a total amount greater than $20 will be valid. 

In this case, you should configure the condition as shown in the following screenshot:

Condition based on the receipt date

When enabling this condition, the administrator can specify on or in between which dates the purchase receipt is valid, so the system will automatically detect the receipt date to determine if it is valid.

Practical Example: Only purchase receipts from January 01, 2025, onwards will be valid. The system will check the receipt date and will only allow the validation of receipts whose date meets this condition.

In this case, you should configure the condition as shown in the following screenshot:

Condition based on the Store information

With the Store Presence condition, the validation system will check that the receipt contains the name of the store that the administrator has configured. If the store tag specified in the condition is not detected, the receipt will not be validated.

To create this condition, you will need to create a Store tag using the receipt tags tool, which allows you to define rules and apply conditions based on them. Check here for all the information on Receipt tags.

Practical example: The administrator has created a store tag for their Shop "MyShop1". For the receipts to be validated, the system must detect the presence of the "MyShop1" store tag in all receipt images.

In this case, you should configure the condition as shown in the following screenshot:

Condition based on the Location

When enabling this condition, the validation system will check that the receipt contains the location that the administrator has selected in the condition. If the specified location is not detected in the receipt, the ticket will not be validated.

To create this condition, you will need to create a Location tag using the receipt tags tool, which allows you to define rules and apply conditions based on them. Check here for all the information on Receipt tags.

Practical Example: The administrator has created a Location tag for the cities of "Boston" and "Chicago". For the receipt to be valid, the system must detect the presence of the tag for one of these two cities.

In this case, you should configure the condition as shown in the following screenshot:

Condition based on the presence of an article

When enabling this condition, the validation system will check that the receipt contains the article that the administrator has selected in the condition. If the specified product is not detected in the receipt, it will not be validated.

To create this condition, you will need to create an article tag using the receipt tags tool, which allows you to define rules and apply conditions based on them. Check here for all the information on receipt tags.

Practical Example: The administrator has created an article tag with the products "yoghurt", "milk". For the receipt to be validated, the system must detect the presence of the tag for at least one of these two items.

In this case, you should configure the condition as shown in the following screenshot:

Additionally, the Item Tag condition allows adding two additional conditions:

Minimum quantity of article condition

If the receipt has multiple units of an article, this minimum quantity corresponds to the sum of all the articles the administrator has specified in the condition. 

To configure this condition, you must create an article tag using the Receipt tags tool, which allows defining rules and applying conditions to them. Check here for all the information about receipt tags.

Practical example: The administrator has created an article tag with the product "Burger" and has set the "minimum quantity of items" condition to "2". For the receipt to be validated, the system must detect the presence of the "burger" item tag, and additionally, the receipt must show that at least 2 units were purchased.

Minimum article amount condition

If the receipt has multiple units of an article, this minimum amount corresponds to the sum of all the amounts of the product the administrator has specified in the condition. 

To configure this validation, you must create an article tag using the Receipt tags tool, which allows defining rules and applying conditions to them. Check here for all the information about Receipt tags.

Practical example: The administrator has created an article Receipt tag with the product "Burger" and has set the "minimum quantity of items" condition to "2" and also set the "minimum amount of items" condition to "15". For the client's receipt to be validated, the system must detect the presence of the "burger" article tag, and additionally, the receipt image must show that at least 2 units were purchased, and the sum of the units for this tag must be at least $15.

In this case, we should configure the condition as shown in the following screenshot:

3. Receipt tags management

3.1. What are receipt tags?

A Tag is a label automatically assigned to a purchase receipt after analyzing its content through Artificial Intelligence (AI). These tags help identify key information from the receipt, such as the merchant name, the purchase location, or the products purchased.

For example, an administrator could create a tag named "ABC New York Store" and define rules like:

• Store name on the receipt must contain the words "ABC New York Store", "Shop ABC New York" or "ABC NY Store".
• CIF (tax identification number) shown on the receipt must be "XXXX".
• Phone number shown on the receipts must be YYYYY.

In these cases, the system will automatically assign the "ABC New York Store" tag to the receipt. The set of rules that define a tag is called the Tag Dictionary.

 

Tags are used for three key functionalities:

1. Receipt validation: Tags are used within campaign conditions to ensure that the purchase receipts meet certain criteria to be considered valid. Example: A Store Tag could be created, and a condition could be set so that the receipt is only validated if it contains that tag.
2. Award allocation: The administrator can assign prizes or points based on the tags detected on the receipt. Example: A rule can be set to directly award users who have purchased a specific article or product, which will be detected through the Receipt Tag in the receipt image.
3. Data Export: This allows structuring the receipt information, including all detected tags, into a .CSV file or via API or Webhook. Use case: It facilitates integration with external analysis systems or CRM.

3.2. What types of receipt tags can be created?

Three types of receipt tags can be created:

1. Store Tag. Allows locating the merchant or shop name on the receipt.
2. Location Tag. Allows locating a specific geographical location on the receipt.
3. Article Tag. Allows locating the name of one or more purchased products on the receipt. 

3.3. How to create receipt tags?

Receipt tags are created and managed from the Settings menu > AI Receipt validation > Receipt tags:

Next, click on the "Create tag" button:

A popup will open where you can configure the following basic options of the receipt tag:

• Tag Type: You can choose from the following types:
  • Store Tag.
  • Location Tag.
  • Article Tag.
• Tag: Enter the title of the tag.
• Color: You can choose a color for this tag.
• Rules.

4. Next, you can configure the receipt rules, which allow the tags to be assigned to the purchase receipt if the information contained in the rule is detected.

Example: You can create a "Store" type tag so that the system labels the receipt with the "ABC NY Store" tag (merchant name) if the store name is detected in the receipt image.

Note: Uppercase and lowercase letters are not distinguished, so there is no need to write the same word in different cases.

Depending on the type of tag selected, the following rules can be configured:

1. Store Tag:
   • Store name
   • Store address
   • Tax ID
   • Phone number
2. Location Tag:
   • Store name
   • Store address
   • Phone number
   • Postal code
   • City
   • Country
   • Country code
3. Article Tag:
   • Description
   • Article reference (SKU)

4. Manual review of the receipts uploaded

When a user uploads a purchase receipt that does not meet all the conditions, the receipt will be marked as "pending review."

Before the receipt enters manual review, the user has the opportunity to provide an explanation as to why they believe their receipt is valid. This feedback may help provide additional context for the reviewer.

A moderator or the promotion administrator will have access to a console where they can review the pending receipts and make a decision to approve or reject them.

Once a decision is made, the user will receive an email notification informing them whether their receipt has been approved or rejected.

Additionally, if you prefer, you have the option to mark all receipts as 'pending review,' so a reviewer can manually review and validate them, even if they meet all the validation conditions.

Discover in this tutorial how the manual receipt review tool works, what the user experience is like, and all the tools to review pending receipts from the review console. 

5. Prize Allocation System

When a client uploads a purchase receipt to the promotion and the validation system considers it a valid receipt, it's time to reward the user for making a purchase. Are you planning to run a final draw among all the users who have uploaded a valid purchase receipt? Or do you want to organize a Prize Wheel and give an additional spin for every $20 spent in your stores? Or do you want to give a discount coupon to users based on the store where they made their purchase? 

All of these mechanics and many more are possible thanks to the Easypromos prize management system, which provides the administrator with a range of tools to tailor the allocation of prizes and rewards to users in the way that best fits their campaign.

Below are the two most common use cases when assigning prizes to users after they have uploaded a valid receipt.

5.1. Final draw: Assign additional entries based on the total receipt amount

Practical example: A store organizes a promotion where, to participate, users must upload a purchase receipt with a minimum total amount. Once the promotion ends, a draw will be held among all the users who have uploaded a valid purchase receipt, and additional entries will be assigned for the draw based on the purchase receipt, so the higher the amount, the higher the chances of winning the draw.

This prize allocation system is done using the virtual coins system, so the administrator can define rules for assigning coins based on different criteria.

Specifically, the following coin allocation rules can be created:

Total receipt amount

Allows assigning X virtual coins based on the total amount of the purchase receipt.

Example: For every $20 spent, the system assigns 1 virtual coin. 

Total amount of an article

Allows assigning X virtual coins based on the amount spent on a specific article. To do this, an article tag must be created with the Receipt tags system. 

Example: For every $5 spent on the "milk" product, the system assigns 1 virtual coin.

Quantity of an article

Allows assigning X virtual coins based on the number of units purchased of a specific article. To do this, an article tag must be created with the Receipt tags system.

Example: For every 2 units of the "Burger" item purchased, the system assigns 1 virtual coin.

Once the virtual coin allocation rules have been defined based on any of these criteria, as clients participate in the promotion, the system will automatically assign the virtual coins according to these allocation rules. At the end of the promotion, from the Winners tool, the administrator will have the option to manage additional entries in the draw based on the "virtual coins" criteria, so users who have accumulated more coins will enter the draw with more entries.

In this video we explain the different virtual coin allocation rules and how you can manage additional entries when conducting the draw.

5.2. Direct Prize Promotion (Prize Wheel, Scratch and Win): Give additional spins based on the total receipt amount

Practical example: A supermarket organizes a promotion consisting of a Prize Wheel where, to participate, the user must upload a purchase receipt from the establishment.

Specifically, the administrator can set the following conditions:

1. Give X additional entries for every X amount of the total purchase. Example: Give 1 additional spin on the Wheel for every $10 spent on the ticket. So, if the total receipt amount is $65, the user will get 6 additional spins on the Wheel.
2. Give X additional entries for every X amount spent on an item. Example: Give 1 additional spin on the Wheel for every $10 spent on an article. So, if the total amount spent on the article is $35.90, the user will get 3 additional spins on the Wheel.

In this video we explain how you can set up both conditions.

6. How to view and download clients' receipts

All the purchase receipts that have been validated by the system will be accessible under the "Requirements" tool, which is located in the "Users" section of the promotion:

You will find there the list of all the tickets that have been validated by the system:

For each purchase receipt, you will see the following information:

• (1) Zoom in on the receipt to see the full image.
• (2) View the receipt details. From this option, you can also check the structured information of the receipt, detected by AI.
• (3) Open the user's profile.

Additionally, you can export a .CSV file with all the information of the receipts uploaded by the participants. This file can also include, if specified, the JSON data of the receipts texts obtained with AI.

7. Video instructions with practical setup examples

Below, we provide specific instructions for configuring the validation of purchase receipts in the following scenarios:

7.1. Only receipts with a specific brand's products are valid. Clients receive additional entries in the final draw depending on how much they spent on the products.

This is a common scenario for a brand or manufacturer that wants to run a promotional campaign among users who buy their products. The challenge is that purchase receipts can come in many different formats, each with its own way of printing a product. We will show you how to create Tags for your articles/products, define their dictionary, create validation rules based on these tags, and how to assign entries for the final draw using virtual coins.

7.2. Validate receipts from a specific store in the last month and with a minimum purchase of $20. For every $20 spent, the client will receive one spin on the prize wheel.

This is the typical scenario when the campaign promoter is a supermarket chain. Clients are offered to spin a prize wheel. Users must submit a purchase receipt from the store to participate. For each $20 spent, the user receives a new participation to spin the prize wheel. We will show you how to create a store Tag, create a validation rule linked to this Tag, and how to filter by date and minimum amount. We will also show you how to give additional spins for every $20 spent.

7.3. Validate receipts generated in the different stores of a shopping center. Final draw among clients who uploaded one or more valid receipts.

Several stores within a shopping center or a group of stores participate in a promotion where customers can win prizes by shopping at any of the participating stores. Each ticket represents one entry in the final grand prize draw. We will show you how to create store Tags and filter the validity of tickets based on the tags and the date of the ticket.