The only magic formula for increasing tips at your business is to provide friendly, exceptional service. But there are a few interesting data points that shed some additional light on why people tip more — and where. Here are seven surprising statistics about customer tipping behavior in the United States:
- Perhaps because it’s such a fast and easy checkout experience, people tip more when they pay with mobile wallets (like Apple Pay and Android Pay).
- Interestingly, according to a survey by the restaurant tech reviews firm Software Advice, people are more likely to tip if they’re required to to press a “no tip” button to opt out of tipping.
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- People prefer to use iPads to input tips themselves. Eighty-six percent of respondents in the Software Advice survey indicated this preference.
- Your location matters. New Hampshire has the most generous tippers in the country — people there tip an average of 17.1 percent on Square Point of Sale. And South Dakota is the stingiest — the average tip amount on Square Point of Sale there is 15.3 percent.
- Delaware bar patrons are the most generous in the country — their average tip amount on a tab is 23.6 percent, according to Square data. Virginia comes in last at an average tip amount of 16 percent per bar tab on Square Point of Sale.
- Having your register positioned close to both your cashier/server and customer helps increase tips. Forty-one percent of those surveyed by Software Advice said close proximity to the server or cashier while entering a tip amount would “probably” or “definitely” increase their likelihood to tip.
- It’s the norm to tip pretty high for coffee. Most people in the country tip 19 to 20 percent at coffee shops that use Square.
