Dear Retail Stores, You Need to Stop Asking for Tips at Checkout

When it comes to dining, grabbing a drink at the bar, getting a haircut at a local barbershop, or any other place that provides a service, I am usually always a good tipper. However, I am starting to think that asking for tips in some places is starting to get out of hand.

Last night I was looking for some products to help me help keep the interior of my vehicle clean. When I found the items I was looking for, I placed them in my cart and went to check out. I was nearly finished with the transaction until I got all the way to the payment page and saw a prompt "Show our staff some appreciation by leaving a tip". The four options I had to choose from were increments of 20, 25, and 30 percent for the tip. The last option was "No thanks. I don't want to leave a tip".

I'm sorry, what? When did this become a thing for online retailers? Just imagine you're buying something off of Amazon and they prompt you for a tip before you can complete your purchase. Would you go through with your purchase? 

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For other brick-and-mortar retailers using a Square payment system or something similar, you can almost guarantee that you will be prompted for a tip too. Nope. I am not leaving a tip at a retail store. Especially one where I come in to, get what I need, and no one helped me. Every single time that I have encountered tipping at a retail store, whoever is checking me out always says "how much would you like to tip today?" while spinning the screen around. Nothing... You didn't help me whatsoever.

Pressured to be tipped is known as Guilt Tipping

The play on words from getting a guilt trip. I know many of us have certainly felt guilted into tipping with these types of point-of-sale machines. The New York Post has even written an article on the woes of Guilt Tipping. Stating that the pressure to tip everywhere you go is getting out of control. I couldn't agree more.

I will gladly tip well for a well-executed service when it comes to food, drink, barbershops, and more. However, retail stores need to do away with this for the sake of not making everyone involved in the sale not feel awkward.