Digital Tip Jars

A new checkout trend is sweeping across America, [blank] for an increasingly awkward experience: digital tip jars. You order a coffee, an ice cream, a salad, or a slice of pizza and pay with your credit card or phone. Then, an employee standing behind the counter spins around a touch screen and slides it in front of you. The screen has a few [blank] tip amounts -- usually 10%, 15%, or 20%. It's being driven in large part by changes in technology that have enabled business owners to more easily [blank] the costs of compensating workers directly to customers. Customers were encouraged to tip generously during the pandemic [blank] help keep restaurants and stores afloat, raising expectations. The shift to digital payments also accelerated during the pandemic, leading stores to [blank] old-fashioned cash tip jars with tablet touch screens. But these screens and the procedures for digital tipping have proven more intrusive than a low-pressure cash tip jar with a few bucks in it.