It really comes down to it: Digital clue reveals with this simple trick

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Two small glasses of homemade iced tea cost 9.90 francs at a cafe in Zurich’s Seefeld. You must decide if you want to pay by card and not with wallet or coins. Five fields appear on the payment terminal screen: “5 percent”, “10 percent”, “15 percent”, “Free tip entry” or “skip”.

A customer is annoyed: “I don’t want to be asked if I want to tip. If I’m happy with the service, I’ll give it, otherwise I won’t.” Choosing “Skip” under the waiter’s scrutiny was unpleasant.

a new phenomenon

Tipping suggestions are a phenomenon that spread from the United States to Switzerland. Payment service provider Worldline is the provider of card payment terminals that are frequently used to pay for consumption in restaurants. Worldline confirms: “We have been offering the percentage selection option in select terminals for several months.” Restaurant operators are free to disable the solution.

Many guests in Switzerland now have to get used to this new feature: being asked to leave a tip by the terminal. Digital tipping has been around for a while: catering establishments already had the option of entering any tip amount through a terminal. Thus, guests have been able to reward service digitally for a long time.

No reduction in tips

The number of cashless payments increased rapidly during the pandemic period. It is reasonable to assume that guests tip less when paying by debit or credit card than when paying with cash. Surprising: According to the 2022 annual survey of the industry association Gastrosuisse, this is not the case!

The majority of establishments did not notice any change in tipping behavior (41 percent) or even an increase in the number of tips per guest (17.8 percent) compared to previous years. Only one-fifth (22.5 percent) of innkeepers noticed a decrease in tips.

Does the request to pay a tip annoy guests? Obviously not. The new tip functions on card readers, which many bars, cafes and restaurants now use, are not off-putting, but rather encourage people to dig deeper into their pockets.

One look at the famous Sternen-Grill at Bellevue in Zurich shows this. The owner of the company, Thomas Rosenberger (57), introduced the tipping function in his business a year ago. Customers paying by card must enter into the terminal whether they want to tip. The idea came not from Rosenberger himself, but from the terminal supplier. The innkeeper was happy to try this feature.

A great blessing for catering workers

“The biggest button is the one that says ‘No tip’; guests are completely free not to tip,” says Rosenberger. This situation was not without controversy; Initially, individual discussions were held with the guests. The new payment process now works well. Employees also won’t be able to see which button guests select.

At Sternen-Grill, about 80 percent of guests now pay for their hot dogs with their cards. As a result, tips continued to decline before the new feature was introduced.

Rosenberger: “This function is a blessing for employees!” Tipping has increased significantly since its launch. “I make no profit from these tips, but I think it’s important as a show of appreciation for our employees,” the catering entrepreneur adds.

It does this without the tip function

Irene Bolliger (46), tenant of the Lägern-Hochwacht travel restaurant in Regensberg ZH, estimates that around two-thirds of all payments are made by card. However, this has no effect on the nib. It’s pretty much the same as before, when people were paying more and more in cash. And this despite the fact that the payment terminal does not offer a special tipping function. “Guests usually pay with their cards and tip in cash,” says the host.

It will soon be 50 years since service was included in the price in restaurants. A tradition that will not end with new payment terminals. In response to Blick’s question, Gastrosuisse writes: “It is important for the customer to decide whether he wants to tip to express his appreciation, and if so, how much and to whom.”

Source :Blick