Customers tipping more during discount meals scheme

QR-coded tipping platform TiPJAR, which externally manages the tipping process for more than 265 hospitality venues across the country including BrewDog, has experienced both tip transactions and the average tip value increasing.

It said over three days of Eat Out To Help Out (Monday 3 August, Tuesday 4 August and Wednesday 5 August) tipping increased in comparison to the same three day period prior to the scheme’s launch.

Tip transactions were up by 145% across its systems while the average tip value increased from £4.42 to £6.45. The platform also recorded its largest tip for a weekday so far, with a tip of £150 processed.

In the second week of the scheme, there was a 160% increase in tip transactions with an average transaction up to £6.68, in comparison to the week before the discount meals initiative began. 

Its delivery-only partners saw an average decrease in tip revenues of 45% over the same period.

Happy customers

TiPJAR founder James Brown, who is also retail director at BrewDog, said the stats were reflective of customers ordering more food when dining out and wishing to return the goodwill of the discount to staff.

He said: “Footfall increases have been evident across the market place from pubs to restaurants during the Eat Out to Help Out scheme. The driver for the increased tip values is that consumers are ordering slightly more, and due to the increased feeling of value feeling happier with the overall value of the deal and giving some of that value directly back to the staff who looked after them. 

“We are delighted to see our users seeing a benefit from increased tips during this time. The Eat Out to Help Out scheme in most cases has been positive for the industry, including both bars and pubs, and now we can see it has been positive for the hard working staff too.”

Operators reported mixed experiences of tipping during the initiative and more broadly since reopening last month when asked by The Morning Advertiser ​(The MA​) on social media.

One publican agreed tips had increased over the summer. She said: “Yes, we had a £30 tip for a table of three the other day. Tips are definitely increased since lockdown.”

Running round 

Other operators said they had not experienced much generosity from customers when using the discount. 

“Yeah I feel for the staff, we've been absolutely manic and they've not even left tips for them. And we're all running around like mad,” said one.

Another commented: “Increased significantly since lock down, but dropped back for Eat Out scheme.”

What’s more, the proportion of The​ MA​ readers stating they had experienced an uplift in the average value of tips since the Eat Out to Help Out scheme was a minority, when asked on Twitter.

In the poll, just 23.3% said they had experienced an increase in how much customers were tipping while 40% said they had not seen any change since the discount was launched. 

Some 36.7% said they had seen a decrease in the amount being tipped.

Have you experienced an increase in the value of customer tips since the Eat Out to Help Out scheme launched? #ukpubs

— Morning Advertiser (@morningad) August 13, 2020