As more wineries adopt digital point-of-sale systems, more and more customers have been presented with a ‘Tip’ page prior to signing for their charges, and some are wondering “Why am I asked to tip for just buying a bottle of wine”? This is off-putting to customers. And trust me, it’s very uncomfortable for the winery staff.
Winery workers do love tips! This extra bonus supplements their minimum wage, but honestly, they don’t expect a tip if they’ve simply sold you a bottle of wine without providing any other service.
So why the tipping screen? These point-of-sale systems have been designed based on a United States restaurant model where tipping is customary for in-restaurant service. Wineries, most being small companies without an IT department, are using these systems as-is for their many operational tools (time clock, sales, inventory management, promotions, etc.) but they don’t have much customization ability. So, while they’d like to give you the opportunity to tip when you’ve received excellent bottle service or tasting service, they can’t always hide the screen for simple transactions.
So what should you do? Tip when you have had a tasting experience or received great purchase advice. Don’t tip when all you’re doing is making a purchase like you would at a store. No one is judging.
