The pandemic, coupled with a higher cost of living pressures, has led to a renewed appreciation for service workers and expansion of tipping and higher tips, B.C. experts in retail services and consumer behaviourism say.
"And so, I think that was sort of a generosity of heart and spirit, where people were glad to be out again and also recognizing that restaurants were under extreme financial pressures because of COVID," says Tikkanen. "[People] say, 'You know what, I had great service, a great time, so why not increase that benefit,'" he said of pandemic tipping.
The Bank of Canada noted in 2017 that cash accounted for 33 per cent of all transaction volume, whereas in 2021, Payments Canada found only 10 per cent of all transactions in Canada are now made in cash. $2.3B in tips in B.C. alone While there is no exact measure of how much we tip on average, tips are "big business," says Dahl.
Tim Silk, associate professor of teaching, marketing and behavioural science division at the Sauder School of Business, says despite some griping about tipping and suggestions to move to a no-tip model like Australia, doing so would be “very complex.” According to Silk, restaurants would need to charge more to compensate staff, and it would be a giant effort to find that balance.