Monthly Archives: June 2023

Nearly 1 in 3 Americans think tipping culture has gotten out of control, a Bankrate survey found — and that’s bad news for people who rely on generosity for a living.

Having visited a number of times this year already I tend to agree that the expectation for tips is not always hand in hand with the levels of service the tips are rewarding for..

Why it matters: The labour shortage for service workers continues apace, and stingier tips could make it even harder to recruit waitstaff, drivers and other tip-dependent employees.

By the numbers: Bankrate’s survey of 2,437 U.S. adults shows that while 65% of people say they always tip servers, the number is way down — from 73% last year and 77% in 2019.

• 66% have a negative view about tipping, and 32% say they’re annoyed about pre-entered tip screens.
• 18% of respondents said they tend to tip less or not at all when presented with tip screens, while 9% say they tip more.
• 44% say they tip at least 20% at sit-down restaurants, with older adults tending to be the best tippers.

41% of respondents told Bankrate that businesses should pay employees better rather than relying so much on tips.

The economic stress of inflation coupled with confusion around who and how much to tip seem to be pushing Americans against the practice.

• “It’s gotten noticeably worse in the past year,” Bankrate senior industry analyst Ted Rossman.
• “We’re being asked to tip more and more places,” said Rossman, who has heard of tips being solicited at a doctor’s office and at unmanned self-service kiosks at airports.

Where it stands: While tipping soared during the pandemic — as we expressed gratitude to front-line workers who put their lives on the line for us — the situation has obviously changed.

• An onslaught of tipping requests — with employees often inches away — is increasing social pressure around gratuities.
• Those iPad tip screens? Baristas are as uncomfortable with them as customers, even though they stand to benefit from the guilt-induced payments, the WSJ reports.

“It’s not like I can just wait, and that tip screen will go away,” Michael Lynn, a consumer behaviour professor at Cornell University. 

• “I have to actively say ‘no, I’m not going to tip.’ That is a harder thing to do than to passively let it go by or ignore it.”
• Kelly Goldsmith, a Vanderbilt University marketing professor, said that “guilt tipping” adds to the pressure.
• “We’re looking this person in the face. We don’t want to be the jerk that hit ‘no’ on the tipping question,” said Goldsmith, who studies consumer behaviour.

If the clothing industry gets its way, small labels with QR codes would replace the bulky clothing tags with washing instructions and other information on our threads.

Why it matters: Digital product labels could provide much more information to consumers, who could scan them for a library of details about the garment they’re wearing (or might buy).

Driving the news: Garment manufacturers in the US have been lobbying the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for permission to replace physical clothing tags — which must include care instructions, fibre content, country of origin, etc. — with digital labels, most likely in the form of a QR code.

• A consumer could scan that code to get the legally required information and more — such as recycling instructions, supply chain information, product recalls, sustainability practices and more.
• And the landing page could be updated in real time.

For example: “Sometimes we produce garments knowing ‘this much’ about the material when we launch it, but three years down the road, something that was not recyclable is recyclable,” says Jennifer Patrick, global packaging, and branding director at Patagonia.

A move to digital clothing labels would allow manufacturers to make the tags much smaller — and thus less itchy and annoying, says Jason Berns, head of product and manufacturing innovation at Ralph Lauren.

• It would reduce “label mangling,” or the tendency of consumers to hack off clothing tags — keeping them intact for the next person who buys or inherits the item.
• It would also combat “label creep,” the growing list of legal requirements from governments that have forced clothing makers to sew in ever-more-complicated (and cumbersome) care labels full of laundry symbols.

The FTC currently requires garment labels to include “fibre content, the country of origin, and the identity of the manufacturer or another business responsible for marketing or handling the product.”

Pushback has come in the form of concerns from regulators and lawmakers about internet accessibility, and whether some consumers would be cut off from the required information.

People sometimes struggle to read the teeny symbols on current label tags — particularly those who are sight-impaired.

• As our clothing habits increasingly go “circular” — with people thrifting, recycling or composting garments instead of tossing them — digital labels will offer a more robust way for future users to access information about items, proponents say.

Case study: Ralph Lauren has “a little north of 220 million units with QR codes in the market today,” Berns says. (The garments also have standard tags in them, to comply with current regulations.)

• “From a data perspective, we see some amazing things,” he said. “We see a spike every weekend” in traffic to the sites linked to the QR codes.

The Heinz Remix will let you mix your own sauce.

Want intense mango and a touch of jalapeño in your steak sauce? A new machine from Kraft Heinz will let us mix custom-flavoured ketchups and other condiments.

Why it matters: Concocting a food or drink at a machine like this is fun — and gives lots of data to the manufacturer, which can then go create products that conform to popular flavour combos.

Driving the news: The Heinz Remix made its debut at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago this month, billing itself as “the first customizable and IoT-enabled digital sauce dispenser.”

• First, you pick your base sauce: Heinz ketchup, ranch, 57 Sauce or BBQ sauce.
• Then you add an “enhancer,” like jalapeño, smoky chipotle, buffalo, or mango and specify an “intensity level” (low, medium, or high).
• Or go wild and add lots of flavours.

Where it stands: Kraft Heinz plans to pilot the Remix at various restaurants in late 2023 or early 2024 but won’t say which ones.

• The company views the machine as a “real-time insight generator” that’ll help it glean the combos people crave.