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Email is a fast, easy, and inexpensive way to deliver copies of Point of Sale documents to customers and vendors; however, keep in mind that email delivery is not guaranteed. Even with a valid email address, it's possible that any given message may never reach the intended recipient. In addition, there isn't a foolproof way of confirming delivery without some type of response from, or communication with, the intended recipient.
From the application, it's possible to see if an email was submitted successfully or not to your designated SMTP server, but this is still no guarantee of delivery. An email may have a valid domain, but not be a valid account. Sometimes the recipient's mail server will bounce the message back to the sender, but not always. It is also possible for the mail server host or the recipient's mail application to automatically delete any messages it thinks are spam.
Before you rely on email for important communication, such as billing, we suggest that your company put in place some type of email verification process. This may be as simple as sending one manual test email to the customer and asking them to verify that this is the address to which the statement should be delivered and to reply as confirmation they've received the message. After receiving the confirmation, you can confidently enable email delivery.
In addition, it may be wise to provide customers who choose email delivery with some form of agreement, disclaimer, or statement regarding possible delivery issues. For example, this might inform them that email delivery is not guaranteed and that they are still responsible for paying their bill even if they don't receive a copy of their statement electronically. This statement could even be included in the initial confirmation email along with a message that their reply constitutes agreement with your company’s terms.
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