Americans finally draw a line at tipping as it hits the self-checkout

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Tipping practices in the United States have changed rapidly since the onset of the pandemic, and the next area of change appears to be tipping in self-checkout lines. American customers these days are being prompted to leave tips in self-checkout lines at airports, grocery stores, stadiums, and cafes — leaving customers unsure who exactly their genorosity would benefit, according to reporting from The Wall Street Journal. Prompts for tips in self-checkout lines are an example of “tip creep,” a phenomenon that has seen companies prompting customers to leave more sizable tips in more transactional situations since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic more than three years ago. Garrett Bemiller told the Journal that the prompt to tip in a self-checkout situation feels like “emotional blackmail” — a means of guilt-tripping customers into tipping even when they ordinarily wouldn’t.