Following on from the Propel Morning briefing Newsletter from the 9th August, that highlighted TiPJAR and X’s recent court battle. We thought it appropriate to discuss Tipping in the hospitality industry and what systems like TiPJAR mean for the modern day hospitality industry.
Tipping culture in the UK hospitality industry is in no way as strong as we see it in other areas across the globe. Here we live a life of relative luxury, going out for an evening meal without feeling the pressure of having to tip 15-20% on top of our meals, even for potentially sub-par service. UK tipping is not mandatory, but rather a polite way of thanking the hospitality industry for their, well, hospitality.
Tips are primarily used as a way to say thank you for the service you receive and are given directly to your server. Traditionally, these servers keep the tips given out to them, but in the modern hospitality industry, many are now shared out between all the servers and kitchen staff alike. Great for team morale and encouragement for the team to keep producing exceptional service.
TiPJAR, the worlds leading cashless tipping solution, recently made the news after winning a trademarking court battle with X (formally Twitter).
X introduced a tipping system to the then Twitter in 2022, originally named Tip Jar. Confusing many users to believe that this was a collaboration between Twitter and TiPJAR. X has since changed the name to Twitter Tips, but left many references to “Tip Jar” on the platform, leading to the court battle that TiPJAR recently won.
As cashless has become much more common since the pandemic, it’s much easier for customers to feel incapable or excused from leaving a tip. TiPJAR and other cashless tipping solutions such as Troncbox are great for many SME hospitality businesses and allow them to evenly divide up and distribute tips, alongside encouraging customers to take part in the tipping process.
Its streamlined system also makes it much easier for businesses to keep track of the tips they receive to help make future business forecasting plans and ensure they’re registering and paying the correct amount of tax on their profits.
This victory for TiPJAR shines a light on the importance of tipping within the hospitality industry and how the technical advances tipping systems have made help out SME hospitality businesses and their staff ensure morale, work ethic and a positive work environment.
Recently, changes have been made in the UK law which requires businesses to give 100% of tips to the staff. This benefits more than 2 million UK workers across the hospitality industry easing the pressures that have been faced by the current cost of living. Tipping services such as Troncbox and TiPJAR make this new legislation easier for businesses to manage.
However, as good as it sounds for hospitality staff, this legislation will ultimately have a greater impact on the hospitality industry. Creating a wide range of challenges for all forms of tipping moving forward.
