Americans finally draw a line on tips when it comes to self-checkout

Tipping practices in the United States have changed rapidly since the start of the pandemic, and the next area of ​​change appears to be tipping at self-checkout lines.

These days, American customers are being asked to leave tips at self-checkout lines at airports, supermarkets, stadiums and coffee shops, leaving customers uncertain who exactly their generosity would benefit, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

Tip requests in self-checkout lines are an example of “progressive tipping,” a phenomenon that has seen businesses encourage customers to leave larger tips in more transactional situations since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic a long time ago. more than three years.

At the dawn of the Covid era, many Americans embraced a movement to increase the amount of tips for service workers as a nod to the precariousness of their financial situations and thanks for taking the risk of working to provide essential services during the pandemic. . .

Adherents to that line of thought sought to tip at least 20 percent and tipped in an ever-widening range of situations. However, it was assumed that those tips were going to real people who would benefit significantly from them.

For some, self-tilting is a different proposition. Garrett Bemiller told the Diary that prompting to tip in a self-checkout situation feels like “emotional blackmail,” a way of making customers feel guilty and getting them to tip even when they normally wouldn’t.

Companies and organizations that Diary approached largely said that tipping is entirely optional and that tips at self-pay stations are split among staff members.

However, some are not happy with the suggestions of their clients’ companies. For some, the situation is further complicated by a compensation structure for some US service workers, such as restaurant employees, who are often not paid a living wage per hour and rely on tips to earn. the money they need to support themselves. The situation is also complicated by the fact that some companies steal tips from their workers.

Rapid changes in tipping practices in recent years have led to broader conversations about the purpose of gratuity and how tips, long billed as an additional and optional part of a transaction, work in the operation of businesses. business.

This is a particularly important issue in the US, where customers tip more and in higher amounts than in almost any other country in the world.