Tipping and QR ordering: what happens to servers' tips?

There is no good public evidence on what QR ordering does to tips. We looked and found no independent study; the big tip-lift numbers you see come from pay-at-table vendors and have no published method. With WaiterPilot the question mostly goes away, because tipping stays where it is today. There is no tip button. Guests pay your staff in cash or on your own card terminal, and the live bill shows only the charges you set, such as tax, a service charge or a gratuity.

This post covers what surveys say about tipping, the three ways tipping can work with table ordering, a worked bill at Casa Olivo, and a checklist for owners.

Do guests still tip when they order from their phone?

Short answer: tipping at sit-down restaurants is still the norm in the US. Whether ordering by phone changes the amount, nobody has shown.

The best recent survey is Pew Research Center’s, from 11,945 US adults in August 2023. It found that 92% “always or often leave a tip” at sit-down restaurants, and 72% say tipping is “expected in more places today than it was five years ago” (Pew Research Center, 2023). Amounts are lower than many owners assume: 57% would tip 15% or less for an average sit-down meal, including 2% who would leave nothing, and only about a quarter would tip 20% or more.

That survey didn’t ask about QR ordering. We could not find an independent study that did. What exists instead are vendor figures:

• sunday, which sells pay-at-table, says “10% higher tips” and “Scan, split, tip, pay. 10 seconds, no app.” (sunday, as published on 15 Oct 2026).
• Qlub, which sells pay-at-table and order-and-pay, says “Earn 300% More Tips” (Qlub, as published on 15 Oct 2026).

Both are payment companies, and both put a tip prompt on the guest’s phone at the moment of payment. Neither page gives a sample, a time period or a comparison group. They may be right for some restaurants; without a method, you can’t tell whether they compare like with like.

What are the ways tipping can work with table ordering?

Short answer: three. A tip prompt on the guest’s phone, a charge you set on the bill, or a tip at your terminal or in cash.

WaiterPilot uses the second and third. It has no tip prompt of its own.

How does WaiterPilot handle tips?

Short answer: it doesn’t take them. It shows your charges, and payment and tips stay with your staff.

The live bill updates all evening on every phone at the table. It includes tax and any service charge or gratuity the restaurant sets. At BroadNet.AI’s own demo café, the owner set Service 5% and Tax 7.5%, both counted on the food subtotal; those are that café’s choices, not defaults. Guests can split the bill evenly or see just their own share.

When guests ask for the check, the chat asks whether they’ll pay by cash or card, so the server brings the card machine. The request reaches the floor screen within seconds. Payment happens on your own terminal, or in cash, and the tip with it. WaiterPilot takes no payments and is not connected to your POS.

Two consequences for servers:

• The tip moment doesn’t move. The server is at the table when the guest pays, as today. Nothing about WaiterPilot changes your terminal’s tip screen, if it has one.
• Servers are still at the table. Staff confirm the first order at each table, bring the food, answer waiter calls and take payment. WaiterPilot handles the order and the questions; it doesn’t replace the server.

You can also hide prices from guests if that suits your service.

A worked example: one bill at Casa Olivo, two policies

Casa Olivo is a fictional US restaurant (an example, not a customer). The 8% tax rate and the 18% gratuity are assumptions for this example, not real local rates and not WaiterPilot defaults.

A party of 8 orders $320 of food and drink. Casa Olivo charges 8% sales tax on the subtotal.

Policy A: no gratuity line. Guests tip at the terminal.

Policy B: an 18% gratuity for parties of 8 or more, set as a bill line.

Under policy A, the server’s tip from this table depends on the guests. Pew’s survey suggests most would land at or below the $48 line, and about a quarter at $64 or more. Under policy B, the gratuity is $57.60, known in advance and visible on every phone at the table all evening.

Policy B only works if it’s honest. State it on the menu (“18% gratuity added for parties of 8 or more”) and name the line clearly on the bill, so guests don’t tip again at the terminal without realising. Check the rules where you operate first: service charges and tips are often treated differently, including who must receive them and how they’re taxed.

What about countries where tipping isn’t customary?

Short answer: leave tip lines off, and say what’s included.

In Japan, the national tourism organization tells visitors that “it’s not common to tip for services such as those provided in bars, cafes, restaurants, taxis, and hotels” (JNTO, checked 15 Oct 2026). In markets like this, a tip prompt can feel out of place, and a mandatory charge dressed up as a tip can feel worse. WaiterPilot shows no tip line unless you set a charge yourself. For more on serving visitors to Japan, see mobile ordering for inbound visitors in Japan.

The reverse matters too. Visitors from those countries, eating in the US, may not know what’s expected. One plain line on the menu or bill (“tips are welcome, not included” or “service included”) saves an awkward moment.

Will servers lose tips if guests order on their phones?

Short answer: we don’t know, and we haven’t found anyone who does with good data. Here’s what is known.

A 2016 Cornell study of tabletop tablets in one restaurant found that server time per table fell 36% when guests paid on the device and 65% when they ordered and paid on it. The samples were small (63, 33 and 7 tables), and one co-author worked for the device maker (Susskind and Curry, Cornell, 2016, p. 6). Less time per table can mean more time for hospitality, or it can mean guests feel nobody looked after them. Which one happens depends on what servers do with the time.

If you’re worried, measure it. Compare the average tip percentage on card payments for four matching weeks before and after you add any ordering tool, Friday against Friday. Your POS or terminal reports already hold the numbers.

How do you word a service charge or gratuity?

Short answer: say what it is, when it applies, and whether a further tip is expected.

Vague lines cause the arguments. These are examples of clear wording; adjust them to your policy and your local rules:

Because WaiterPilot’s bill is live, guests see the line from their first order, not as a surprise at the end. That only helps if the line is named clearly.

A checklist for owners

1. Decide your tip policy before you add any ordering tool: terminal tips, a service charge, a gratuity for large parties, or none.
2. If you add a charge, write it on the menu in plain words and name it clearly on the bill.
3. Check local rules on service charges and tip distribution.
4. Make sure guests can’t be asked to tip twice, once on the bill and again at the terminal, without seeing that a gratuity is already included.
5. In markets where tipping isn’t customary, leave tip lines off.
6. Tell servers what changes and what doesn’t. With WaiterPilot, they still bring the food and take payment.
7. Measure tip percentage before and after, for at least four matching weeks.

What to do next

See how the bill, check request and waiter call look on a guest’s phone on the waiter call and bill page, or try a sample order. For the bill-splitting side, read splitting the bill at the table. WaiterPilot costs $200 per location per month after 30 days free, with 0% commission, and takes no cut of your sales or your servers’ tips; the full offer is on the pricing page, and our cost calculator compares it with per-order fees.