SCANNED YOUR OWN GROCERIES
Suggested tip: 25%
SELF SERVE / $TIPME
YOU SERVED YOURSELF. THE MACHINE WANTS A TIP.
CA: COMING SOON
SELF SERVE POS
STEP 1
BUILD YOUR ORDER
SUBTOTAL
$0.00
TOTAL
$0.00
FEES
ADD A TIP
The machine is not angry. The machine understands.
BAGGED YOUR OWN ORDER
Suggested tip: 25%
RESTARTED YOUR OWN ROUTER
Suggested tip: 40%
TRAINED THE CAPTCHA
Suggested tip: 50%
FIXED WHAT THE AI BROKE
Suggested tip: 75%
CLEANED YOUR OWN TABLE
Suggested tip: 100%
THE TIP SCREEN ATE EVERYTHING
Tipping used to be a transaction between a person who served you and a person who was served. It was awkward, it was inconsistent, and it was at least legible. Then the screen arrived. The screen does not know what service is. The screen knows that a prompt shown is a prompt that converts, and so the prompt began appearing everywhere — at the counter where you ordered for yourself, at the kiosk where you scanned your own groceries, at the airport terminal where the only human involved was you.
SAY TIPPING IS EXPECTED IN MORE PLACES THAN FIVE YEARS AGO
Pew Research Center, survey of 11,945 U.S. adults, November 2023
REPORT TIPPING FATIGUE, UP FROM 53% IN 2023
Popmenu annual consumer survey, early 2026
THE AVERAGE AMOUNT PAID YEARLY IN TIPS PEOPLE FELT WERE UNNECESSARY
Popmenu annual consumer survey, early 2026
The service left. The tip screen stayed. Somebody has to be the cashier, and it is going to be you.
