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Tipping trends are beginning to test customer patience

Among rising prices, tipping is becoming more expensive and excessive

More and more consumers are starting to feel like tipping culture is getting excessive. These days, tips are expected at all sorts of businesses, not simply restaurants, cafes, and salons. And while consumers are happy to leave a handsome tip after dining at one of Miami’s best restaurants, many believe that tipping is showing up in unusual locations.

Recent media coverage has focused on "tip creep," an ongoing trend where more and more businesses find ways to collect tips. Another issue that many have is with "tipflation", the growing custom of automatically adding a 20% or 30% service fee to their bills. With inflation remaining alarmingly high, these trends are causing frustration among customers.

Read on to learn more about this patience-testing tipping trend.

Why are there so many tipping requests lately?

Digital payment machines have become more common in recent years. As these new payment methods pop up, customers are being encouraged to leave tips in establishments where it was previously unthinkable. It's becoming harder for customers to decide when and how much to tip.

Frustrations rise when a cashier flips over a payment device or offers a tablet to a client with a preset tip that's greater than expected. Consumers feel trapped since they can't do much to reduce the tip amount in front of everyone watching.

A person placing money into a tipping jar

Are tipping trends going to change?

Tipping increased dramatically during the pandemic, which is probably because consumers had more empathy for service industry workers. Early 2022 SWFU 6 statistics show that 74% of customers often leave a gratuity at eateries, with 26% choosing not to.

The increase in tips, however, quickly faded by the summer of 2022. A lot of people blamed the decline on increasing prices. Despite current dissatisfaction, tipping culture is here to stay. However, dining places are becoming smarter about how to request gratuities and how much to ask for.

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