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Maps showing the variation in tipping norms around the world reveal that tips are not required in Australia and Japan, and that expectations are typically higher in the US.
In the US, a 20 percent tip is standard when visiting a restaurant, while in the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands they tend to be around 5 to 10 percent, depending on the maps. Created by HawaiinIslands.com using the TripAdvisor tip guide.
Another thing that makes matters worse for American consumers is the rise of digital payment systems on tablets that play on guilt and shame by offering larger suggested tips in situations and establishments where tipping was not customary in the past.
Tipping 10 percent is the norm in 66 countries, as is the case in much of Europe.
The rise of digital payments, partly accelerated by the pandemic, has seen touchscreen kiosks encourage both larger tips and tipping at establishments like bakeries and coffee shops.
When eating in European restaurants, the norm is to tip using spare coins or increasing your payment to the nearest round number.
However, in the US, the tip is more often considered a fixed percentage of the bill, and that percentage has been increasing.
In the early 1970s, tips increased from 10 to 15 percent in the best establishments and have been on the rise ever since.
recent changes, according to the New Jersey State Policy Laboratory at Rutgersthey were triggered by the increase in recommended advice on electronic screens and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some of those machines have restaurant owners asking for as much as 30 or 35 percent. Machines that prompt customers to pay a tip are also becoming common in establishments where tips were not previously expected, such as coffee shops and bakeries.
In 37 countries, you can choose to tip hotel staff $1 or $2, but in the US, hotel staff can expect up to $5.
Similar trends can be seen between tip expectations among hotel staff, where in Australia, Japan, Norway and Sweden tips are not expected, but in the US and Canada the highest tips are expected: from $2 to $5.
American taxi drivers expect to receive tips of around 15 percent, while in Europe 10 percent is the norm, according to the maps. It is the only country in the world where such a high tip is standard.
The phenomenon of tip inflation in North America is widely attributed to the death of the physical tip recipient.
‘In recent years, we’ve seen the rise of these digital kiosk systems that are very interactive in nature. Digital interfaces allowed businesses to provide the option of tipping.
“And companies realized that this is a good way to get people to pay more,” Dipayan Biswas, a professor of marketing at the University of South Florida, told NPR last month.
The United States is the only country in the world where a 15 percent tip is the norm for taxi drivers.
The pandemic also caused a change in inflection trends and expectations because Customers were encouraged to tip generously to help keep restaurants and shops afloat.
It also accelerated the adoption of digital payment systems, as business owners were encouraged to stop using cash to limit the spread of the virus.
Tipping is embedded in the US economy and society as a whole, with servers in 43 states earning sub-minimum wages before receiving tips, according to a payscale report.
But digital payments are also changing the way tips are distributed to servers and employees.
Biswas added: “Everything paid to the digital interface goes directly into the company’s account, and it’s up to the company and whatever contracts they have in place that will determine how much, if any, of that money is spent.” share with server”. or the employee.’
On top of that, the companies that process these payments also get a cut. Square, one of the most popular payment systems in the US, charges 2.6 percent plus 10 cents per transaction when a customer taps or swipes their card during an in-person transaction.
Total tips for full-service restaurants increased 25% during the last quarter of 2022 compared to the prior year, while tips at quick-service restaurants increased 17%, according to Square data.