Operations

Point of sale playing role in restaurant tipping

Photo by istock.com

November 17, 2022

Most Americans (83%) always tip at a sit-down restaurant, but when it comes to restaurants without tableside service, that drops drastically. Close to half (49%) do not tip at places like Chipotle or Panera.

Those are top findings from a PlayUSA report on tipping trends in 2022.

Nearly half of consumers, 45%, report tipping more due to restaurant requests during the checkout process and over a half of U.S. consumers say they feel pressure to tip during iPad checkout experiences in particular. Over half, 51%, confess to tipping even when they otherwise wouldn't due to point-of-sale prompting.

The report also revealed three in five Americans would do away with tipping altogether if they had the choice, and one in 10 tip whatever a rideshare app recommends while 6% do the same when it comes to food delivery tipping, according to a press release on the findings.

The least tipped places are restaurants with no tableside service — 61% of Americans admitted to giving no tip there, and 39% skipped the tip at a coffee shop. While only about one in three (27%) Americans tip at big coffee chains like Starbucks, 49% tip at local coffee shops.

Since COVID-19 began, more than one in four have been tipping a higher dollar amount, and nearly one in five are tipping a wider range of services. Inflation has been cutting down on some tips though with 17% admitting they've started tipping less because of the economy.

Americans are expected to be more generous this holiday season as 23% do tip more during the holidays than other times of the year.