This is a guest post from StoreKit, which provides a simple and secure way for users to purchase digital goods or services in your apps across all Apple platforms.
“The tip level that we’re receiving is incredible, compared to what we traditionally get cash in hand or with card payment,” said James, the General Manager of Slap and Pickle at Society in Manchester, after introducing mobile ordering to his venue.
Mobile ordering boosts customer spending. And, with its adoption by an increasing number of venues, it’s becoming apparent that it also drives increased tips. Keep reading to learn the reasons behind this, as well as the other operational benefits that mobile ordering can drive from a tipping perspective.
Making all the difference in wet-led venues
Using a mobile ordering menu can increase tips in a dining context, but it is StoreKit’s wet-led customers in particular who have reported a boost in tip amounts. It’s difficult to compile exact statistics on this, as venues are understandably reluctant to reveal their exact tip intake. iBut anecdotally, our wet-led customers have seen tips increase by as much as 500%, 1000%, or even 10,000%.
“For our staff, the tips function is fantastic,” said the owner of a venue using StoreKit. He said that, compared to his other sites, “the tips in our site here, which uses StoreKit, are far, far higher. I would say the tip increase is about 80% on our other sites. It really is small elsewhere, and giant here.”
The reason behind this uptick in tips is simple. Wet-led venues received very few tips prior to getting started with mobile ordering; but now, customers are much more likely to select one of the three tipping options (5%, 10%, or 12.5%) when prompted during check-out on a StoreKit menu. By providing three tipping percentages, customers are more likely to see tipping as a sunk cost. Tipping shifts from a ‘whether to do or not’ to a ‘how much to tip’ matter.
More tips, less admin
Moving tipping into the digital realm makes collecting, calculating and redistributing tips a lot easier, compared to the days of fumbling around with loose change. It means less time spent on these administrative tasks, and more time spent on looking after customers, for instance.
It’s also likely to be a fairer way of tipping staff, thanks to the better transparency over the tips collected.
Removing the pain of paying
Not all mobile ordering is made equal though — the more friction involved in tipping for the customers, the fewer the tips.
With a StoreKit menu, for instance, choosing a tip is a single tap of a button. For customers, that means no having to pick arbitrary tipping percentages, no calculating, and no digging around for spare change. Adding a tip doesn’t disrupt the payment process. It doesn’t stand out as a whole extra step, and so it creates less friction. “If it's in front of you on a screen there's definitely a greater tendency to tip,” said Ollie Morby, General Manager of the Forest Road Brewery taproom.
It’s all about the customer experience
But the transition to mobile ordering isn’t positive for recipients of tips alone. From a tipping point of view, it’s also positive for customers.
Like mobile ordering menus, traditional pay at the table tech does often offer tipping prompts. But digital menus like StoreKit’s offer options with pre-calculated tip amounts, which makes tipping much simpler and stress-free.
Perhaps more significantly, punching in a tip with a server standing right beside you can be an uncomfortable experience. And it seems a shame to conclude your customers’ interactions with your staff and venue on that note. Customers shouldn’t be pressured into tipping; ironically enough, a negative experience like that could be exactly what reduces tips or future visits. Instead, mobile ordering gives customers the privacy and the time to tip as they want.
And, crucially, with mobile ordering, customers won’t feel pressured to tip – but they’ll want to tip.
Creating the perfectly tailored experience
Ordering even with the best of servers creates pressure. You might feel rushed to order or you might forget an item at the moment of ordering. But being able to browse the menu on your own device lets you order at your own pace, meaning an increased likelihood of ordering exactly what you want.
The impact of this has been particularly significant in wet-led venues, where customers would previously have to buy at the bar. Chamith Ratnayaka, owner of a Fuller’s pub told us, “If you go to the bar, you'll place a drinks order within 30 seconds.”
He noticed that the way customers order has changed since his pub switched over to StoreKit Order & Pay. “Customers can order in their own time and really choose what they want. You know what the dishes look like, you know what's the brands behind them, so when you scroll through all the products, you see a lot more than just when you go into the bar.”
Online ordering menus are also generally better at suggesting complementary sides or add-ons, making it easier for customers to build up their orders in a way that they best prefer. And elevating the customer experience leads to boosted tips.
Less hassle, more tips
The traditional ordering and payment process involves a lot of hassle: trying to catch a server’s attention to order; waiting to receive your bill; waiting to pay, and splitting bills. All of that scaled down to simply browsing, ordering, and paying on your own phone at your own pace is the kind of premium experience that leads to increased tips.
Retaining talent
In total revenue terms, tips become a small boost (of course, they should be directly passed onto staff members). But they can make a huge difference to your business operations.
“One thing we've really appreciated is the really simple and easy tip function,” said Bri O’Sullivan, the Manager at the Spare Wheel in Newbury. “Since we've implemented StoreKit, we've actually been able to have a staff-do from our tips and we can send them over to our team every week as well, which I just think is a nice extra incentive for the staff.”
So why is this all important? Making sure that your payment setup is optimized for tipping is important for staff retention — and more engaged staff leads to happy customers.
