Columbia service workers, consumers experience ‘tipflation’

By Delaney Tarpley

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    COLUMBIA, Missouri (KOMU) — With inflation over the past year, it’s been considered normal to shell out an extra dollar or two for various items. But on top of higher prices, many Americans are now also spending an extra dollar or two on tips.

Recent data from the payment processor Square says Americans tipped 17% more frequently at full-service restaurants at the end of 2022 compared to the end of 2021. At quick-service restaurants such as coffee shops and fast-food chains, tipping increased 16%.

Some mid-Missourians said they’ve been feeling tip-fatigued.

“I’ve tipped 15% or 20% before and had someone look over my shoulder and tell me that’s not enough anymore,” D.Rowe’s patron Robert Thomas said. “That’s just not how it works.”

Others say they’re tipping more because of this added social pressure.

“I started tipping more because I’ve seen friends doing it and honestly just the people I’m waiting in line behind,” Acola Coffee Company patron Miguel Flores said. “If they tip, it’s like, ‘Why not do it?'”

“When I go out to dinner with my friends, it’s like ‘Oh you tipped $3?’ ‘How much did you tip?’ ‘I tipped $8,’ Acola Coffee Company patron Fiona Heeney said. “If you tip less than your friends, it’s like ‘Shame on you.’ It’s not really ever vocalized [among my friend group]. It’s an internal ‘Oh, they didn’t tip 20%? Maybe they shouldn’t go out then.”

Acola Coffee Company owner Nick McKague said he thinks the increase in tipping is also because it’s become more convenient through new technology.

“It’s easy now, you can just press the button,” McKague said. “There’s a higher percentage of people who pay with a credit card, and there’s a higher tip rate from those people versus those who pay with cash.”

Even though the tipping technology on kiosks is only a few years old, it’s already starting to adapt.

“Our technology is getting smarter,” MU finance professor Melissa Griswold said. “It used to be that a terminal would ask you do you want to give a 10%, 15%, or 20% tip. Now 10% isn’t even an option anymore.”

On lower cost items, Griswold said a new set of options can lead people to tip higher amounts than they might realize in the moment.

“Now it’ll say do you want to give a $1, $2, or $3 tip,” Griswold said. “Before you know it, you could be giving a 50% tip and you don’t even realize it.”

Heeney says the point of sale (POS), or “kiosks,” have made it more difficult to say no.

“Back when I was in high school, they didn’t have those kiosks that ask you if you want to tip,” Heeney said. “And then they watch you click your answer, so it’s definitely more pressure.”

Still, she said she holds out from tipping at quick-service restaurants such as coffee shops and smoothie bars.

“Somebody’s not waiting on you, so I don’t feel pressured to tip here,” Heeney said. “At full-service restaurants, I always tip 20%, though.”

Some service workers said they think the pandemic made people want to tip more for products or services because of an increased appreciation for what a worker does. The generosity has been felt by more than just food-service workers, as well.

“Us as a society have become more gracious,” Salon Nefisa hairdresser Ryann Mrasek said. “With any service provider, the value on that person has jumped up since COVID.”

Beyond expressing appreciation, others just said they feel like it’s a good deed.

“Out of the kindness of your heart, if you have a dollar or two to spare, it wouldn’t hurt,” Flores said.

For D. Rowe’s server Anna Bess, an added tip makes her more likely to want to pay it forward.

“I usually see between 20% to 30%; pre-COVID, it was more like 18% to 20%,” Bess said. “Being on this side of it, I really know that that extra dollar goes a long way. And then when I’m out, and I can spare an extra dollar or two, I know that it’ll make someone else’s day.”

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